Caesar Introduction

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Source: Arthur Tappan Walker, Caesar’s Gallic War (Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1907), pp. 9-39. [1]

The Importance of the Gallic Campaigns

The Commentaries on the Gallic War are Caesar's own story of how he conquered the peoples living in what is now France and some of the lands bordering on France. He has told his story simply and directly. It was his genius that made the conquest possible, and the story could not be true without making this evident; but he has spoken of himself as if the writer and the general were different men, and there is no boasting. He has not explained to us the great importance of the war to the Roman state; there is no suggestion of its importance to his personal career; much less has he hinted at his own importance in the history of Rome and the world. These things must be learned from a study of history, not from Caesar's story.

Effect on Rome. Rome was the governing nation of ancient times. In Caesar's time she had conquered the other nations which touched the Mediterranean, and was governing most of them as provinces; that is, she sent Roman governors to them and collected taxes from them. In this way she governed a comparatively narrow strip of land in southern Gaul; and as this was the particular province which Caesar was sent to govern, he calls it simply "the Province," Prōvincia historical mapsatellite image. This province was only partially protected by mountains and rivers from the semicivilized and warlike Gauls on the north; and for this reason it could never be sure of peace and safety until the rest of Gaul was conquered. Moreover, the land on the north was productive and well worth having. Therefore Caesar's conquest of Gaul was justified, from a Roman point of view, both by the value of the land and by the necessity of protecting the Province.

Effect on Gaul. But there was a better reason for that conquest. Though the Gauls were brave they were no match for the less civilized Germans, who lived across the Rhine. Just at the time when Caesar took command of his province the Germans had begun crossing the Rhine in great numbers and were driving the Gauls out of their homes. If this movement had not been checked, the homeless Gauls would have been driven to attack Roman territory; and if the Gauls had been exterminated between the Germans and the Romans, then the Romans would have found the Germans still more dangerous neighbors than the Gauls. For the Gauls themselves, too, it was far better to be conquered by the civilized Romans than by the uncivilized Germans. The one means of safety for both Gauls and Romans was that the Romans should govern all the country west of the Rhine and should hold the Germans at bay on the other side of that great river. This was the result of Caesar's conquest of Gaul; and this result is the great justification of his bloody warfare there.

Effect on Caesar. In their effect on Caesar's own career the Gallic campaigns were all-important, and his career changed the course of history. In Gaul he gained military experience and the devotion of his army. By the aid of that army he overthrew a constitution under which the Roman state was going to ruin, and laid the foundations of an empire which lived for centuries. No doubt he did this from selfish and ambitious motives; but his ambition was so great that it could never have been satisfied until he had brought the empire he ruled to the highest possible degree of excellence, and his genius was so great that he saw the needful measures and the means to carry them out. The daggers of his assassins gave him too short a time to complete his work; but he did enough to prove himself the greatest man in Roman history.

Life of Caesar

Early Years, and Choice of Party. Gaius Julius Caesar was born in the year 100, B.C.<ref>Walker originally stated that Caesar was born on July 12, 102 B.C. (though he noted “or perhaps in the year 100 B.C.”), but it is much more likely that he was born July 13, in 100 B.C. “Caius Julius Caesar was born on 13 July 100 BC according to the modern calendar. The day is certain, the year subject to just a little doubt, as by chance the opening sections of both Suetonius’ and Plutarch’s biographies of Caesar have been lost. A few scholars have dated his birth to 102 or 101, but their arguments have failed to convince, and the consensus of opinion remains firmly with a date of 100.” Adrian Goldworthy, Caesar Life of a Colossus (Newhaven, Yale University Press, 2006), 30. </ref>, on the 13th day of the month which was then called Quintilis, but which we now, in his honor, call July. Tradition traced the descent of the Julian family back beyond the foundation of Rome, and even to the goddess Venus as its remote ancestor. Caesar, therefore, belonged to the Roman nobility, and in the continuous strife between the Senatorial, or Aristocratic, and the Democratic parties,<ref>“The contrast is between two types of politics, not two parties. Popularis was usually applied to individuals claiming to represent the interests of the people, as opposed to the senate and the upper orders generally: they stressed the sovereignty of the popular assemblies and the importance of the office of tribune of the plebs, and advocated economic and social reforms to help the poor. The optimates favored the interests of the optimi or ‘best men’ (their own flattering term) and upheld the authority of the Senate, resisting distributions of wealth and property.” M. T. Griffin and E.M. Adkins, Cicero: On Duties (Cambridge, Cambridge University press, 1991), 34.</ref> might have been expected to side with the aristocrats. But none of his own family had been very conspicuous in the state, and his aunt had married Marius, the greatest leader of the Democratic party, the great general who had saved Rome by his victories over the Cimbri and Teutoni. It was natural that his ambition should be fired by his uncle's career, and that his sympathies should incline toward the Democratic party. When he was only fifteen Marius made him priest of Jupiter, an office of some honor and few duties; and in 83, after the death of Marius, he deliberately identified himself with the Democratic party by marrying Cornelia, the daughter of the new leader of that party, Cinna.

Overthrow of Caesar's Party. But the power of the Democratic party was almost at an end. In 83 Sulla, the leader of the Aristocratic party, returned to Italy with his victorious army, after fighting for several years against Mithradates, in the East. A bloody contest drove the Democrats from power; and in 82 the victor, determined to make a revival of that party impossible, slaughtered its eminent men and so changed the constitution of the state that the Senate was in full control. The young Caesar, as nephew of Marius and son-in-law of Cinna, was too conspicuous to be overlooked. Sulla ordered him to divorce Cornelia. Caesar refused, and had to flee for his life until influential friends persuaded Sulla to pardon him. Sulla's grudging consent is said to have been coupled with the warning that Caesar would prove as dangerous as many Mariuses.

Weakness of Opposite Party. But the form of government set up by Sulla did not stand long, and the years which followed his death made more and more clear the need of some strong man who should give order and stability to the state. During those same years Caesar was testing and developing the powers which were to make him the man to do this work.

Revival of Caesar's Party. When Sulla died, in 78, the Senate was in complete control: the Democratic party had neither a leader nor any chance to use its strength. Gradually the Senate lost this control, until, in 70, under the consuls Pompey and Crassus, the changes made by Sulla were completely done away with and the Democratic party again had an opportunity, if it could but find a leader. For a time Pompey seemed likely to be this leader. In 66 the people, contrary to the wishes of the Senatorial party, elected him general to serve against Mithradates. This gave him supreme control in Asia Minor, but kept him out of Rome for the next four years.

Development of Caesar's Powers. During all this time Caesar was developing his powers of leadership. He got a taste of military service in Asia Minor, and at twenty-two he won the civic crown of oak leaves for saving the life of a fellow citizen in battle; but as yet he seems to have had no thought of gaining distinction as general. A born politician, he loved the game of politics for its own sake as well as for its rewards. An excellent orator, both by nature and by training, he used his oratorical powers in furthering the plans of his party. He made friends easily, and his influence over them was strong. Therefore, before he was old enough to take office he was a great favorite with the people and a much sought for ally in political scheming; and at the earliest age permitted by law he was elected without difficulty to the offices of Quaestor (for 68), Aedile (for 65), and Praetor (for 62). The greatest test of his popularity came in 63, when the office of Pontifex Maximus fell vacant and Caesar was elected to this most honorable position over the strongest candidate the Senatorial party could put forward.

Caesar's First Military Command. But in spite of his ability and popularity, in the year 63 Caesar was thought of as only a shrewd politician. Rome looked upon Pompey as her greatest man, because he was her greatest general; and Caesar knew that if he should come into conflict with Pompey his shrewdness could never prove a match for Pompey's army and generalship. Caesar felt that he too must be a general, but he did not know whether he could be; for he had never had an opportunity to try his powers. The opportunity offered itself in 61, when he was sent to govern a part of Spain. There he fought with great success against some of the native tribes. His victories were not very important in themselves, and they attracted no great attention in Rome; but they showed Caesar what he could do and made him anxious for a larger field of operations.

Caesar's Consulship. Caesar now wanted the consulship, the highest office in the state: if he got it he intended to carry through some measures which would be opposed by the Senatorial party. He therefore needed strong friends. Pompey had returned in triumph from the war with Mithradates, but the Senate had refused to grant some reasonable requests which he had made of it. Crassus too had a grievance against the Senate. With these two men Caesar made a secret agreement that each should further the interests of the others; and thus Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus formed what is known in history as the First Triumvirate, a mere personal agreement, with no public sanction. The influence of Pompey and Crassus helped in securing Caesar's election to the consulship for the year 59, and also assisted him, when consul, in passing measures which were for the advantage of each of the three allies. For himself Caesar took a five-year term of office as governor of Cisalpine Gaul (the northern part of Italy), Illyricum (north and east of the Adriatic Sea), and Transalpine Gaul (then including only the southern part of France). To protect these provinces he was given an army of four legions.

Caesar's Command in Gaul. In 58, therefore, Caesar entered upon his command. Partly because it was best for the province and the state, and partly because he needed the training and the reputation of a general, he determined to conquer all the rest of Gaul. How he did this he tells us himself in the Commentaries; and a brief summary prefixed to each book in this edition makes it unnecessary to tell the story here. Since he found the five years originally given him too short for the full accomplishment of his purpose, he secured an additional five years. By the year 50 the last trace of resistance to Roman authority had been crushed, and Caesar's great task was completed. Moreover, he now had a perfectly disciplined, veteran army, enthusiastically devoted to its leader.

Outbreak of Civil War. It was high time that Caesar should have his hands free, for a greater task lay before him. For several years Pompey and Crassus had looked out for his interests in Rome. But in 53 Crassus was killed in battle; and at about the same time Pompey began to feel jealous of Caesar's success and fearful of his power. He gradually turned away from Caesar and attached himself to the Senatorial party, which had always hated Caesar. On the first day of the year 49 the Senate voted that Caesar should lay down his command and return to Rome as a private citizen, though the time for which the command had been given him had not yet expired. Caesar was then in Cisalpine Gaul, and his reply was an immediate march toward Rome.

Weakness of the Constitutional Government. But during Caesar's absence from Rome the complete failure of the constitutional form of government had shown that the so-called republic could not exist much longer. Trials and elections were decided by bribery and bloodshed. The governing party had been so weak that for one entire year a succession of riots had prevented the holding of elections. Now when it was attacked by Caesar it again showed its weakness. Although it had taken steps which were sure to bring on civil war it had done nothing to prepare for that war, except to appoint Pompey its commander-in-chief. In about two months from the time when Caesar marched into northern Italy, Pompey set sail from southern Italy with his army and most of the Senate, leaving Rome and Italy in Caesar's hands.

Civil War Makes Caesar Master of Rome. But the hardest fighting of his life lay before Caesar. Pompey had crossed the Adriatic only to gain time for preparation. Besides, while Pompey's strong army lay on the east of Italy, there was another large army of Caesar's enemies in Spain, on the west. But Caesar's magnificent army and wonderful generalship carried him through all difficulties. In 49 he marched to Spain and defeated his enemies there. In 48 he followed Pompey across the Adriatic and utterly routed his army in the great battle of Pharsalus. Pompey himself fled to Egypt and was assassinated by order of the counselors of the Egyptian king. Caesar followed him to Egypt with an insufficient force and was blockaded for several months in the city of Alexandria by the Egyptian army. Meanwhile the remnants of Pompey's army made their way to the northern coast of Africa, and a new army was there organized to oppose Caesar. In 46 Caesar defeated this army too, at Thapsus, so decisively that he is said to have lost but fifty men while fifty thousand of the enemy fell. Then the sons of Pompey rallied the last opponents of Caesar, in Spain, for a final struggle, and Caesar's victory at Munda in 45 made him the undisputed master of the Roman world.

Caesar as Statesman. Caesar was no mere soldier, and it was from no choice of his own that he spent all these years in fighting. He became a general because that was the only way to achieve his purpose of becoming sole ruler of Rome. But that purpose was not prompted wholly by personal ambition. He had begun as a politician and had matured into a great statesman. There had been many abuses in the state, and the civil war had brought in confusion as well. With characteristic energy and clear-sightedness he set himself to bring order out of chaos, to organize the whole empire, and to improve its details. To carry out this work he needed the best men in the state, regardless of party: hence he pardoned those who had fought against him and gave some of them positions of high honor and great responsibility. He reformed the calendar. He took measures to remedy the financial disorders of the country. He planned a codification of the laws. He intended to carry out some great engineering feats, among others the cutting of a canal through the isthmus of Corinth. In order to protect the frontiers of the empire he planned military expeditions against the Parthians and the nations along the Danube.

Assassination of Caesar. Such enormous plans needed time for their execution, and time was denied to Caesar. A form of government which had stood for centuries could not be overthrown without grieving some true lovers of their country. One man could not make himself the master of all others, who had previously been his equals, without arousing jealousy. One man could not select the men to fill all offices without disappointing many. Men of all these classes, patriots, would-be rivals, and disappointed office seekers, joined in a conspiracy, and on the fifteenth of March, 44 B.C., Caesar fell beneath their daggers while presiding over a meeting of the Senate. The history of the following years shows the folly of this murder. For themselves the assassins reaped only death, since in a very few years every one whose fate is known had died by violence. For the state the deed was equally disastrous, since the assassination of Caesar merely caused a bloody civil war to intervene between his rule and that of Augustus.

Chronological Table

B.C.	Caesar's Age <ref>Walker originally calibrated Caesar's age in this table by using a birthdate of 102 B.C. The table has been modified to reflect a birthdate of 100 B.C. instead.</ref>
102		Marius defeats the Teutoni.
101		Marius defeats the Cimbri.
100		Birth of Caesar, July 12.
87	13	Marius appoints Caesar Priest of Jupiter. • 86 16 Death of Marius. Cinna is Dictator.
83	17	Caesar marries Cornelia, daughter of Cinna, the Dictator.
82	18	Sulla becomes perpetual Dictator. He proscribes and pardons Caesar. Caesar leaves Rome for the East.
80	20	Caesar wins the civic crown at Mytilene.
78	22	Sulla dies. Caesar returns to Rome.
76	24	Caesar sails to Rhodes to study under Molo.
74	26	Caesar is elected Military Tribune and Pontifex.
70	30	Consulship of Pompey and Crassus. The Sullan constitution is overthrown.
68	32	Caesar is Quaestor.
65	35	Caesar is Curule Aedile.
63	37	Caesar is elected Praetor and Pontifex Maxinius. Cicero is Consul. Conspiracy of Catiline exposed.
62	38	Caesar is Praetor. Pompey returns from the East.
61	39	Caesar is Propraetor in Farther Spain.
60	40	Caesar is elected Consul. "First Triumvirate" is formed,
59	41	Caesar is Consul. He marries Calpurnia.
58	42	Caesar becomes Proconsul of Gaul. Campaigns against tha Helvetii and Ariovistus. Cicero is exiled.
57	43	Caesar conquers the Belgae. Recall of Cicero.
56	44	Caesar's campaign in Brittany.
55	45	Caesar invades Britain and Germany. Pompey and Crassus are joint Consuls for the second time.
54	46	Caesar invades Britain a second time. Death of Julia.
53	47	The northeastern Gauls rebel. Crassus is slain.
52	48	General revolt of the Gauls. Alienation of Pompey.
51	49	Caesar completes the conquest of Gaul.
50	50	The quarrel between Caesar and the Senate.
49	51	Civil War. Caesar is made Dictator.
48	52	Caesar defeats Pompey at Pharsalus. Pompey is killed in Egypt. The "Alexandrian War."
47	53	Caesar, again Dictator, reorganizes the government.
46	54	The "African War." The Pompeians defeated at Thapsus.
45	55	The "Spanish War." Battle of Munda.
44	56	Caesar Dictator for life. Assassinated March 15th.

Caesar as General

The Commentaries present Caesar to our view as a military leader of the first rank, and yet he had reached middle life before he held an independent command. During his youth, when the fascinations of "war's wild trade" may have attracted him, all the channels to military preferment were closed to him on account of his connection with the Marian party. When he finally turned his attention to war, he brought the calm calculation of the man of affairs seeking to accomplish certain desirable ends through its agency. Neither the charm nor the traditions of camp and field life held sway over his mind. Love of military glory alone never lured him on, nor was the sweep of his genius hampered by the shackles of an exclusively military training.

Characteristics as General. The Commentaries reveal his method. He clearly conceived the object desired and took the most direct way possible to reach it. When it best suited his purpose he was deliberate and cautious, watching for the best opportunity to strike a crushing blow. Yet in an emergency he would coolly carry out the most daring plans, so that he sometimes appears even reckless; but this apparent recklessness was the result of swift and unerring decision, based on a keen insight into the character and probable action of his opponents. He always took the offensive and endeavored to concentrate his force and strike the enemy unexpectedly. He made up by quickness of movement for his lack of numbers. In battle he was cool and confident. He was devoid of fear, and when necessary fought in the foremost ranks. If the enemy fled he pursued him vigorously with his cavalry, slaughtering without mercy as long as a man was to be reached. He was sometimes cruel from policy, though naturally clement.

Power over his Men. Caesar won the entire devotion of his army, and this was one of the secrets of his success. He was careful of the comfort and lives of his men. He saw to it that they had an abundance of supplies. He cautioned them against unnecessary risk in battle, and sometimes refused to allow them to fight in dangerous places even when they wished to do so. He ruled by tact rather than by fear. He generously rewarded their valor and fidelity, and knew how to rouse them on occasion to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. But such statements only partially account for his ascendency over their minds. He possessed in the fullest measure that combination of natural qualities which makes a man a born leader. Therefore his army was the obedient instrument of his will and endured unexampled hardships without a murmur.

Caesar as Author

Caesar's genius was many-sided, and he might have been no less eminent as an orator and an author than as a statesman and a general, if he had chosen those fields of activity for their own sake. Even as it was, though he spoke and wrote mainly for political effect, he was recognized by his contemporaries as an orator second only to Cicero, and the simplicity, clearness, and terseness of his Commentaries have made them a classic from his day to our own. In the purity of their Latinity they rank with Cicero's works as the best that have come down to us. The interest of the narrative and the quality of the generalship shown in it have made the book a favorite with some of the world's greatest generals. The great Napoleon, for example, recommended it to his officers and himself wrote an abstract of it.

Purpose in Writing the Commentaries on the Gallic War. Yet the book was written hastily, probably in the winter of 52-51, after the events narrated in Book VII; and it was written for a political purpose. Absent from Rome and deprived of his two chief supporters by the death of Crassus and the alienation of Pompey, Caesar wished to put himself in a good light before the Roman people. With such a purpose he might have been expected to misstate some facts; and there have been many attempts to show that he did so. But a fair examination of these attempts shows that not one of them is well-founded. There may be occasional mistakes, where Caesar was forced to rely on information furnished him by the Gauls; but it can not be proved that there is a single intentional false statement in the whole work.

Caesar's Other Writings. In addition to the Commentaries on the Gallic War, in seven books, we have Caesar's Commentaries on the Civil War, in three books. Besides these we know of other works, now lost. We hear of some poetry and a collection of jests. He wrote a treatise on grammar while traveling rapidly from Rome to Spain. He wrote a treatise on astronomy when he reformed the calendar. He wrote an attack on Cato to counteract the effect of certain books which in praising Cato attacked Caesar. All this shows his versatility; but probably no one of these works would have been very valuable if it had been preserved.

The Gauls

First Appearance of the Gauls in History. Some seven centuries before Christ, a tall, fair-haired race of men, the Gauls, began crossing the Rhine and conquering the original inhabitants of the country on its west. In time they overran everything as far as the Pyrenees, partly destroying the original inhabitants, partly uniting with them. About five centuries before Christ they began crossing the Alps and settling in northern Italy, and in 390 B.C. they took Rome and burned it. Rome was then but a small city, governing only the part of Italy which immediately surrounded it.

First Decline of Gallic Power. But from that time on the power of Rome increased and that of the Gauls decreased. A. little more than two centuries before Christ, after desperate fighting, the Romans conquered and held northern Italy, Cisalpine Gaul. Again in the years from 123 to 118 there was hard fighting with Gauls, and at the end Rome controlled that part of Gaul which Caesar calls Prōvincia. historical mapsatellite image

Invasion of Cimbri and Teutoni. In 113 began the invasion of the Cimbri and Teutoni, the most terrible danger of Rome since the day when the Gauls burned the city. It is not known whether they were Germans or Gauls, and probably the Romans of the time did not discriminate between the two races. They crossed the Rhine with their women and children, and marched slowly through Gaul, leaving a waste wherever they had passed. Several Roman armies met them and were cut to pieces. At last they made ready to invade Italy, the Teutoni by the western Alps, the Cimbri by the eastern. But the great Marius was now in command of a Roman army. In 102 he met the Teutoni and destroyed them. In 101 he joined the other Roman army and destroyed the Cimbri,

Geographical Divisions of Gaul in Caesar's Time. In Caesar's time Cisalpine Gaul was almost as Roman as any other part of Italy. From it Caesar recruited his legions and levied new ones; and later he gave its inhabitants the right of Roman citizenship. The Province was peaceable and loyal to Rome, although the Allobroges had rebelled only a few years before. Caesar's task was the subjugation of all the rest of the Gauls, the inhabitants of all the country lying north of the Province and west of the Rhine. This is the country which he calls Gallia. However, he divides it into three parts and often uses the name Gallia of only the great central part, Gallia Celtica, where the Gallic stock was purest. In the southwestern part, Aquitania, fewer of the Gallic invaders had settled, and the population consisted largely of descendants of the original inhabitants. In the northeastern part, Belgium, Germans had settled in large numbers.

Factions in Gaul. If Caesar had found Gaul a compact nation his task would have been more difficult than it was. But faction and division seem to have been a part of the Gallic nature, and he took advantage of this characteristic. Gaul was cut up into many small states, each feeling itself rightfully independent. These states fought frequently with one another, and the weaker of them were either forced into dependence on the stronger or voluntarily attached themselves to stronger states for protection. In this way loose leagues or confederations were formed, between which rivalry and warfare went on. In Gallia Celtica the chief confederations were the one headed by the Haedui and the one formerly headed by the Arverni, but in Caesar's time headed by the Sequani. But the evils of faction did not stop here. The individual states, for the most part, had no strong governments. Apparently most of them had been governed by kings one or two generations before Caesar's time; but a series of revolutions had generally abolished the kingly office and had substituted magistrates elected yearly. The real power lay in the hands of rich nobles, or equites as Caesar calls them. Each of these nobles lived surrounded by numerous slaves and retainers; and as there was no power strong enough to keep them in order, individual nobles or leagues of nobles sometimes pushed their continuous rivalries to the point of civil war.

Caesar's Use of the Gallic Factions. This factional spirit was of great assistance to Caesar, for he usually found means to attach one faction or the other to himself. For example, at the outset he found two factions in the state of the Haedui, headed by two brothers, Diviciacus, friendly to the Romans, and Dumnorix, hostile to them. By strengthening Diviciacus and checking Dumnorix he secured the help of the state. The state was the leader of one of the two leagues in Celtic Gaul, and Caesar thus secured the submission of all the states in that league without fighting for it. In fact, not only did he have their passive submission, but he obtained from them provisions and men to use in conquering other parts of Gaul.

Gallic Civilization. The details of the Gallic manners and customs can be learned best from Chapters 11-20 of Book VI. It will be enough to say here that in Caesar's time the Gauls were not wild barbarians, but had attained a considerable degree of civilization. They had long passed the stage of roaming about from one part of the country to another; though we find, in the first book of the Commentaries, that for special reasons the Helvetii intended to leave their homes and find new ones. They had roads and bridges and towns of considerable size, fortified by well built walls.

Caesar's Army

The Legions

Plate I: Roman Soldiers 1. funditor 2. levis armaturae milites 3. legionarii 4. vexillum 5. signiferi 6. aquilifer 7. tubicen 8. bucinator

The legions formed the strength of Caesar's army. When the enemy met him in hand to hand battle the legions bore the brunt of the fighting and won him the victory. But since they consisted of heavily armed, and therefore comparatively slow, foot soldiers, and since their weapons were useless at any considerable distance, the legions needed the assistance of cavalry and light-armed infantry, to complete their success.

Organization of the Legion. In theory a legion consisted of 6000 men; but battles, accidents, and disease so reduced this number that Caesar's legions probably averaged about 4000 men, or even less. The following table gives the divisions of a legion and their theoretical strength:<ref>Walker’s numbers here originally placed a century at 100 men, though in actuality it would have been more like eighty. The numbers in the chart have been changed to reflect this. “There were sixty centurions in a legion. Each commanded a century of eighty men – the title had probably never meant anything more specific than around one hundred men – and six centuries combined to form a cohort of 480, which was the basic tactical unit of the army… There were ten cohorts in a legion.” Adrian Goldsworthy, Caesar Life of a Colossus (Newhaven, Yale University Press, 2006), 193.</ref>

century [centum, hundred]	= 80 men
2 centuries = 1 maniple	= 160 men
3 maniples = 1 cohort	= 480 men
10 cohorts = 1 legion	= 4800 men

In theory, again, the legions were made up of Roman citizens; but in fact a large part of Caesar's legionary soldiers came from Cisalpine Gaul, which had not yet received the right of citizenship. However, it was thoroughly Romanized, and, in spirit at least, Caesar's legionaries were Roman citizens.

Equipment of the Legionary Soldier

(Plate I)

Clothing.

a. A sleeveless woolen shirt, reaching nearly to the knees.

b. Tight-fitting leather trousers, or perhaps merely bandages wrapped about the legs.

c. Shoes or sandals.

d. A heavy cloak for bad weather. This served also as a blanket at night.

Armor.

a. A helmet of leather (galea) or metal (cassis).

b. A leather coat (lōrīca), strengthened by bands of metal across the shoulders, breast, and back.

c. A curved wooden shield (scūtum), covered with leather, and having a metal boss in the center. It was about four feet high and two and a half feet wide.

d. Perhaps a greave on the right leg, though Caesar does not mention it. This was very much like a football shin-guard, but made of metal.

Arms.

a. A heavy wooden javelin (pīlum, Fig. 1), with a long iron point which was strong enough to pierce any armor but was likely to bend as it did so. Therefore it could not easily be withdrawn when it had pierced a shield, and could not be thrown back by the enemy. After the battle the javelins were gathered and straightened by the Romans. Each soldier carried but one javelin.

b. A straight, heavy, two-edged sword(gladius, Fig. 2), about two feet long, adapted for either cutting or thrusting. Its scabbard (vāgīna) hung from a belt (balteus) which passed over the left shoulder. The sword was thus on the right side, out of the way of the shield. But the higher officers, who carried no shield, wore the sword on the left side.

Individual Baggage. Besides his personal belongings each soldier carried his share of the picks, spades, baskets, etc., used in entrenching the camp; cooking utensils; and several days' rations of grain, which seems to have been apportioned out only twice a month. All this, weighing from thirty to forty-five pounds, was made into a pack (sarcina) and strapped on a forked stick; this the soldier carried on his shoulder. While thus encumbered the soldiers were said to be impedītī. If the army was attacked on the march the packs were stacked in one place under guard, and the soldiers were then expedītī.

Officers of the Legions

Plate II: Roman Officers and Gauls 1. imperator 2. legatus 3. centurio 4. lictor 5. Gallic warrior 6. Gallic standard bearer 7. Gallic chief

Lēgātus. All governors of provinces were given several lēgātī, deputies or assistants. These legates were not strictly military officers, but were to be employed by the governors in any way they saw fit. Caesar introduced the innovation of putting a legate in command of each legion just before a battle. When one or more legions were detached from the main army for special service, Caesar put a legate in command; and legates were left in command of the winter quarters during Caesar's absence. But no one legate was in permanent command of any one legion.

Quaestor. The quaestors were financial officers, elected yearly by the people at Rome. One was chosen by lot to take charge of the finances of each province, so that Caesar always had one with him. He took charge of the pay and the supplies of the army. When he was competent Caesar employed him in battle as he did his legates, putting him in command of a legion.

Praefectus Fabrum. The chief of engineers had charge of such matters as the building of bridges, construction of camps, erection of siege works, repair of artillery, and the refitting of ships. He probably had special assistants, but the actual labor was performed by skilled men detailed from the ranks.

Tribūnus. No single officer permanently commanded a legion, as our colonels command regiments. Each legion had six tribunes, who took the chief command in rotation, while the rest probably commanded groups of cohorts or were assigned to special service. In Caesar's army many of the tribunes were experienced and capable officers, who did good service; but others were young men without military experience, who had been appointed only because they were friends or relatives of influential men at Rome whom Caesar wished to please. It was for this reason that Caesar put his legates and quaestor in command of the legions in battle. On the march or in camp a tribune was in command.

Centuriō. The centurions commanded centuries, and there were therefore sixty in each legion. On them fell the immediate management of the men in battle. They fought in the ranks like the men and were expected to set the men an example of conspicuous bravery. They were therefore promoted from the ranks on the basis of their strength and size as well as their skill and gallantry. They could hope for no promotion above the rank of centurion; but there were grades of centurions from one to the other of which they rose. The highest of all was the first centurion of the first cohort, the prīmipīlus. He and a few others, just how many is not known, were called centurions of the first rank (centuriōnēs prīmōrum ōrdinum, or prīmī ōrdinēs), and were commonly summoned to councils of war along with the tribunes and legates.

Standards and Signals of the Legions

Aquila. Each legion had as its standard a bronze or silver eagle (aquila), carried on the top of a wooden staff. It was regarded with almost religious respect, and its loss was the deepest disgrace that could befall the legion. It was in charge of the first centurion of the first cohort, and was carried by a man of conspicuous strength and bravery, the aquilifer (Plate I, 6).

Signum. Each cohort had its own standard (signum), carried by a signifer (Plate I, 5). These standards were of various forms—an open hand, the figure of an animal, etc. On the staff, below the figure, were fastened the decorations of honor which had been bestowed on the cohort—disks, half moons, wreaths, and tassels. The diversity of form was necessary in order that each soldier might recognize easily the standard of his own cohort. In hasty preparation for battle each man found his place by looking for his standard; and all through the battle he regulated his movements by those of his standard. For this reason the technical terms for such maneuvers as advancing and retreating are signa īnferre, signa referre, etc.

Musical Instruments. There were no bands, and the only use made of musical instruments was in the giving of signals. The only instrument mentioned by Caesar in the Gallic War is the tuba, a straight brazen trumpet, blown by a tubicen, but others were probably used as well (Plate I, 7, 8).

Baggage of the Legion

The heavy baggage (impedīmenta) consisted of tents, provisions, hand-mills for grinding grain, engines of war, etc., and was carried on pack horses or mules (iūmenta). These were driven or led by .the drivers (mūliōnēs) and camp servants (cālōnēs), who were probably slaves.

Auxiliary Infantry and Cavalry

Infantry. The light armed infantry (Plate I, 1 and 2), which Caesar usually calls auxilia, contained no Roman citizens. Caesar had slingers (funditōrēs) from the Balearic Islands, and archers (sagittāriī) from Crete and Numidia; but most of his light armed infantry was drawn from friendly Gallic tribes and was armed in the native fashion. He put little reliance on them for serious fighting, but made them useful in various ways: as skirmishers, to delay the enemy's attack; as raiders; in making fortifications at a critical time; for mere show, to impress the enemy with his numbers; and in pursuit of a routed enemy. Their higher officers were prefects (praefectī). Their standard was a banner (vexillum, Plate I, 4) attached to a horizontal cross-piece at the end of a staff.

Cavalry. Caesar had no Roman cavalry. During his first six years in Gaul he had none but Gallic cavalry, but in the seventh year he secured some Germans and found them much more effective. They were useless against a line of infantry, but met the enemy's cavalry. Caesar employed them especially as scouts and raiders, or in pursuit of a routed enemy. Their higher officers were praefectī, and their standards were vexilla.

The Camp

A Roman army never halted even for one night without fortifying its camp (castra) with a wall and trench. This must have cost two or three hours of hard work; but it made the army safe from attack, and so allowed the general to choose his own time and place for battle; and in case of defeat the camp was a place of refuge.

Location and Form of Camp. Whenever it was possible the camp was built on a hill sloping gently toward the enemy, so that the Roman army could form its line of battle in front of the camp and make the enemy charge up hill. The normal shape of the camp was a square or oblong, but it had to be accommodated to the shape of the hill. Fig. 3 shows the normal shape, while Fig. 4 shows the actual shape of one of Caesar's camps. Within the camp, streets were laid out in accordance with a fixed plan, and every legion, every cohort, every maniple had always the same location. Fig. 3 shows the normal arrangement for a camp which would accommodate five legions.

Fortifications of Camp (Fig. 5). The size of the trench (fossa) varied, but was usually about nine feet wide and seven deep. The earth, dug out with spades and carried in baskets, was piled up just inside the trench to make the wall (vāllum). This wall was faced partly with sods, partly with bundles of sticks (fascines), so that it was quite steep on the outside. Other fascines were put inside the wall, to strengthen it. It stood about six feet high, was wide enough on top to let the soldiers move about comfortably in fighting, and sloped so gradually toward the inside that soldiers could easily ascend it. Sometimes this slope was faced with logs, so as to make steps. On the outer edge of the top stood a row of palisades (vālli), about four feet high, which served as a breastwork. In case of an attack the enemy would be halted by the ditch several feet from the wall, and be completely exposed to the Roman javelins, while the defenders stood on a higher position, protected by a breastwork, and could throw their missiles with great effect. In times of especial danger, towers (turrēs) were erected at intervals on top of the wall.

Gates of Camp. Usually there was one gate (porta) on each of the four sides; but in the camp represented in Fig. 4 there were two gates in front, where the soldiers had most occasion to pass in and out. The gates were mere openings in the wall, about forty feet wide as a rule. Fig. 4 shows how they were protected. A short curved wall projected into the camp from the left side of the gate. A line of soldiers stood in the gate, and another manned this wall. If the enemy got into the opening they would be exposed on their shieldless side to a shower of missiles from the wall. Ordinarily this was a sufficient protection, and it left the gates open for a sudden charge from within. But in times of great emergency the gates could be walled up solidly.

The March

Line of March. The vanguard usually consisted of cavalry and light armed infantry. Under ordinary circumstances each legion was followed by a train of pack animals carrying its baggage; but in the near neighborhood of the enemy all the baggage was brought together, preceded by most of the legions and followed by the rest.

Length of March. The length of a day's march of course varied greatly, according to the nature of the country and the need for haste. As the soldier had to carry from forty-five to sixty pounds of arms and baggage, and as the army had to halt early in the afternoon to give time for making camp, the rate of march of the army could be nothing like that of an unencumbered individual. Probably when there was no need of haste the average march was no more than twelve to fifteen miles, and a day of rest was given about every fifth day. But Caesar, like Napoleon, owed much of his success to his power of inspiring his army to great efforts on the march. When he speaks of forced marches (magna itinera, maxima itinera), we are to think of marches of from eighteen to twenty-five miles a day, or even more. On one occasion he marched four legions, without baggage, fifty Roman miles in less than thirty hours, including all stops.

The Battle

Since the legions had to do the serious work of fighting, the line of battle was arranged solely with reference to their tactics. When the enemy were within the short range of the Roman javelins they were met by a volley of these deadly missiles and their ranks were thus broken. Immediately the Romans charged, and the rest of the battle was fought out at close quarters with the sword. When possible, therefore, the line of battle was drawn up facing down a gentle slope. This gave greater range to the javelins and greater impetus to the charge; while the enemy must begin the battle breathless from a charge up the hill. The auxiliary infantry might be posted in front of the line, but it was expected to do no more than delay the attack of the enemy. More often it was posted on the flanks, sometimes merely as a show of strength. The cavalry might meet the cavalry of the enemy. Otherwise it usually merely awaited the rout of the enemy, when it pursued and cut to pieces the fugitives.

Line of Battle. The line of battle was commonly triple (triplex aciēs), though sometimes only double (duplex aciēs). In the triple line of battle the first line was composed of the first four cohorts of each legion, standing side by side, with no intervals between the cohorts. Three cohorts of each legion formed the second line, which stood a short distance behind the first, ready to relieve it when it became exhausted in the battle. The remaining three cohorts of each legion formed the third line, in the rear, and were held as a reserve for any emergency. Each of these lines was eight or ten men deep, and only the front rank of the first line could engage in the battle at any one moment. But that rank would fight vigorously for a few moments, then fall back and be relieved by the next rank, and so on until all the men of the first line had been engaged. Then it was relieved as a whole by the second line.

Orbis. When surrounded by the enemy and hard pressed, a body of men would form what is now called a hollow square, and what the Romans called a circle (orbis), with the baggage and camp servants inside the ring of armed men.

The Capture of Towns

Plate III: 1. turris 2. testudo arietaria 3. testudo 4. onager 5. ballista

A great part of Caesar's military operations consisted in the capture of walled towns. The fortification of these towns was rather primitive, but it was quite effective (Fig. 6). The face of the wall showed regular rows of log ends separated by huge stones. No one log could be grappled and pulled out, for they were all fastened together far within the wall. The logs would not burn, for they were each imbedded in stone and earth. A battering-ram could demolish a solid stone wall, but the framework of timbers defied it. Therefore Caesar relied little on making breaches in the walls and entering in that way. But there were three other possible methods—a blockade, a sudden assault, and a formal siege.

Blockade (obsidiō). A ring of fortifications could be built around the town, and the place starved into submission. But this was too slow a method to be employed unless all other methods were hopeless, and Caesar used it only once in the Gallic War.

Sudden Assault (oppugnātiō repentīna). If a town had low walls and few defenders, it might be taken by a sudden assault. Archers and slingers kept the wall partly clear of defenders. Soldiers approached the wall in safety by holding their shields over their heads and letting them overlap, forming a testūdō (tortoise, Plate III, 3). If there was a trench around the wall, they filled it with bundles of brushwood (crātēs, fascines). Then they mounted the wall by means of scaling ladders (scālae, Plate III). But such towns would usually surrender without a struggle, so that the method was little used.

Formal Siege (oppugnātiō). The favorite method was by the use of the agger and tower (turris). The agger was a great causeway, built of logs and earth, which sloped gradually up toward the top of the wall. Generally it was not intended to be as high as the wall. In that case a tower, several stories high, was pushed up the causeway on rollers. From the upper stories, which rose higher than the wall, archers and slingers and artillery shot down the defenders. When the tower was near enough, a drawbridge was let down from one of the lower stories to the top of the wall, and the Romans charged across it. Sometimes the causeway was as high as the wall, and thus itself gave access to its top (Fig. 7). Sometimes, if the wall was low and the ground about it level, no causeway was built, and the tower was pushed over the ground to the wall. Then a battering-ram might be hung in the lowest story, and the drawbridge was let down from one of the upper stories. Plate III illustrates this method of using the tower, as well as several other devices; but the city is not a Gallic town.

Means of Protecting the Besiegers. In building the agger and carrying on the other operations of a siege the assailants had to approach within easy range of missiles from the wall: hence they made use of several forms of protection.

a. The pluteus (Fig. 8) was a heavy shield, several feet high, mounted on wheels. A line of these, parallel to the wall, gave protection to men working immediately behind it; and it could be moved forward at pleasure.

b. The musculus (Fig. 9) was a hut with one end open and the otber end partially closed. Its roof was strong enough to withstand the shock of great stones which might be dropped upon it from the wall. It could be pushed up to the wall, and under its shelter men could dig out the foundation of the wall.

c. The testūdō arietāria (Plate III, 2) was a similar hut in which hung a battering-ram (ariēs), a heavy timber capped with iron, intended to be swung against the wall.

d. The vīnea (Fig. 10) was a lighter hut, open at both ends. A number of these placed end to end made a safe covered gallery extending from a point out of range up to the musculī, testūdinēs, or pluteī.

All these huts were pushed forward on rollers.

The Artillery.—Caesar had with him engines of war, the purpose of which corresponded to that of modern artillery. They were too heavy and clumsy to be of much service in battle: hence their chief use was in siege operations. The general name tormenta is derived from torqueō, to twist, and was applied to them because the propelling force was obtained by twisting a stick between two tightly stretched horse-hair ropes.

Fig.11: Catapulta

a. The ballista (Plate III, 5) threw heavy stones at a considerable angle from the horizontal.

b. The catapult (catapulta) threw great arrows nearly horizontally. Fig. 11 makes most of its mechanism clear without explanation. (A) is an arrangement for raising or lowering the rear of the nearly horizontal track, thus regulating the range. The track is grooved to hold a long sliding carriage, on the rear portion of which is the trigger (B). The operation of firing was as follows: The carriage was pushed forward till the claws of the trigger were over the bowstring; a block (C) was shoved under the heavy rear end of the trigger, and the claws were thus held down on the string; the carriage was drawn back by means of the windlass, and held in place by the hook (D); the arrow was laid on the grooved upper surface of the carriage, with its end resting on the string between the claws of the trigger; the block (C) was withdrawn and the rear end of the trigger fell by its own weight, thus releasing the string.

c. The scorpiō was a small catapult.

d. The onager (Plate III, 4) threw stones, like the ballista, but was of different construction.

The Fleet

The fleet is to be considered as belonging to the army, rather than as a separate organization; for when Caesar had need of it he manned it with his legionaries, put tribunes and centurions in command of individual ships, and made one of his legates its admiral. The ships of war were about eight times as long as they were broad, and were therefore called nāvēs longae, in distinction from the transports (nāvēs onerāriae), which were shorter and wider. They had a mast and single sail, but in battle depended on oars for their propulsion. Their prows (Fig. 12) were armed with metal beaks (rōstra), with which to ram the ships of the enemy. If the Romans failed in this they sought to make the battle as much as possible like a battle on land, their special object being to grapple one of the enemy's ships and board it.

A Brief Bibliography

The following list of books will suggest those which are most helpful to pupils and teachers who read only English. Those who wish to make a more detailed study of special points will find that Holmes gives references to almost everything of importance in the enormous literature of Caesar, except on the linguistic side.

Editions

A. Holder. (Freiburg and Tübingen, 1882.) This may be useful for its (inaccurate) index of words, which is intended to be complete.

H. Meusel. (Berlin, 1894.) The critical edition is the best text edition of the Gallic War. No explanatory notes.

H. Rheinhard. (Stuttgart, 1896.) Useful for its illustrations.

Of the following English editions the first two are useful:

C. E. Moberly. (Tho Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1878.)

A. G. Peskett. (Cambridge, 1878-1882.)

St. George Stock. (The Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1898. Usually good when it follows good authorities.

Caesar's Life and Campaigns

Col. T. A. Dodge. Caesar. (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1894.) Useful if Napoleon can not be obtained, but without much independent value.

W. Warde Fowler. Julius Caesar. (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1892.) The best life of Caesar.

J. A. Froude. Caesar: a Sketch. Interesting, but grossly partisan and inaccurate.

T. Rice Holmes. Caesar's Conquest of Gaul. (Macmillan & Co., London, 1899.) The best discussion, in any language, of the military and geographical problems.

Napoleon III. History of Julius Caesar. (Out of print, but can be obtained at second hand. If possible get the Atlas with the two volumes. The French edition is more easily obtained.) Volume II gives a more complete narrative and explanation of Caesar's campaigns in Gaul than can be found elsewhere, but without much discussion of disputed points.

C. W. C. Oman. Seven Roman Statesmen. (Edward Arnold, London, 1902.) The characterization of Caesar is too violent a reaction against the views of Mommsen and Froude.

Plutarch's Lives. Every pupil should read the life of Caesar.

Anthony Trollope. The Commentaries of Caesar. (In the series, Ancient Classics for English Readers.)

Much that is valuable will be found in the following histories:

Duruy. History of Rome.

Long. The Decline of the Roman Republic. This is especially good in its treatment of Caesar's campaigns.

Merivale. History of the Romans under the Empire.

Mommsen. History of Rome. The chief defect of this extraordinary work is its too great partiality for Caesar.

Miscellaneous

H. P. Judson. Caesar's Army. (Ginn & Co., 1888.) This gives much fuller information about the organization and tactics of the Roman army than can be given in the introduction of an edition. It should be at hand for reference.

R. Oehler. Bilderatlas zu Cäsars de Bello Gallico. (Leipzig, 1890.)

W. Rüstow. Atlas zu Cäsars Gallischem Krieg. (Stuttgart.)

A. Van Kampen. Quindecim ad Caesaris de Bello Gallico Commentarios Tabulae. (Gotha.)

Editor's Notes

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