History of Julius Caesar by Jacob Abbott
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Jacob Abbott >> History of Julius Caesar
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[Sidenote: Caesar implicated in Catiline's conspiracy.]
[Sidenote: He arrests Vettius.]
After this, Caesar became involved in another difficulty, in consequence
of the appearance of some definite and positive evidence that he was
connected with Catiline in his famous conspiracy. One of the senators
said that Catiline himself had informed him that Caesar was one of the
accomplices of the plot. Another witness, named Vettius, laid an
information against Caesar before a Roman magistrate, and offered to
produce Caesar's handwriting in proof of his participation in the
conspirator's designs Caesar was very much incensed, and his manner of
vindicating himself from these serious charges was as singular as many
of his other deeds. He arrested Vettius, and sentenced him to pay a
heavy fine, and to be imprisoned; and he contrived also to expose him,
in the course of the proceedings, to the mob in the Forum, who were
always ready to espouse Caesar's cause, and who, on this occasion, beat
Vettius so unmercifully, that he barely escaped with his life. The
magistrate, too, was thrown into prison for having dared to take an
information against a superior officer.
[Sidenote: Caesar's embarrassment.]
[Sidenote: Spain is assigned to him.]
At last Caesar became so much involved in debt, through the boundless
extravagance of his expenditures, that something must be done to
replenish his exhausted finances. He had, however, by this time, risen
so high in official influence and power, that he succeeded in having
Spain assigned to him as his province, and he began to make preparations
to proceed to it. His creditors, however, interposed, unwilling to let
him go without giving them security. In this dilemma, Caesar succeeded
in making an arrangement with Crassus, who has already been spoken of as
a man of unbounded wealth and great ambition, but not possessed of any
considerable degree of intellectual power. Crassus consented to give the
necessary security, with an understanding that Caesar was to repay him
by exerting his political influence in his favor. So soon as this
arrangement was made, Caesar set off in a sudden and private manner, as
if he expected that otherwise some new difficulty would intervene.
[Sidenote: The Swiss hamlet.]
He went to Spain by land, passing through Switzerland on the way. He
stopped with his attendants one night at a very insignificant village of
shepherds' huts among the mountains. Struck with the poverty and
worthlessness of all they saw in this wretched hamlet, Caesar's friends
were wondering whether the jealousy, rivalry, and ambition which reigned
among men every where else in the world could find any footing there,
when Caesar told them that, for his part, he should rather choose to be
first in such a village as that than the second at Rome. The story has
been repeated a thousand times, and told to every successive generation
now for nearly twenty centuries, as an illustration of the peculiar type
and character of the ambition which controls such a soul as that
of Caesar.
[Sidenote: Caesar's ambition.]
Caesar was very successful in the administration of his province; that
is to say, he returned in a short time with considerable military glory,
and with money enough to pay all his debts, and famish him with means
for fresh electioneering.
[Sidenote: Manner of choosing the consuls.]
[Sidenote: Pompey and Crassus.]
He now felt strong enough to aspire to the office of consul, which was
the highest office of the Roman state. When the line of kings had been
deposed, the Romans had vested the supreme magistracy in the hands of
two consuls, who were chosen annually in a general election, the
formalities of which were all very carefully arranged. The current of
popular opinion was, of course, in Caesar's favor, but he had many
powerful rivals and enemies among the great, who, however, hated and
opposed each other as well as him. There was at that time a very bitter
feud between Pompey and Crassus, each of them struggling for power
against the efforts of the other. Pompey possessed great influence
through his splendid abilities and his military renown. Crassus, as has
already been stated, was powerful through his wealth. Caesar, who had
some influence with them both, now conceived the bold design of
reconciling them, and then of availing himself of their united aid in
accomplishing his own particular ends.
[Sidenote: The first triumvirate.]
He succeeded perfectly well in this management. He represented to them
that, by contending against each other, they only exhausted their own
powers, and strengthened the arms of their common enemies. He proposed
to them to unite with one another and with him, and thus make common
cause to promote their common interest and advancement. They willingly
acceded to this plan, and a triple league was accordingly formed, in
which they each bound themselves to promote, by every means in his
power, the political elevation of the others, and not to take any public
step or adopt any measures without the concurrence of the three. Caesar
faithfully observed the obligations of this league so long as he could
use his two associates to promote his own ends, and then he
abandoned it.
[Sidenote: Caesar a candidate for the consulship.]
Having, however, completed this arrangement, he was now prepared to push
vigorously his claims to be elected consul. He associated with his own
name that of Lucceius, who was a man of great wealth, and who agreed to
defray the expenses of the election for the sake of the honor of being
consul with Caesar. Caesar's enemies, however, knowing that they
probably could not prevent his election, determined to concentrate their
strength in the effort to prevent his having the colleague he desired.
They made choice, therefore, of a certain Bibulus as their candidate.
Bibulus had always been a political opponent of Caesar's, and they
thought that, by associating him with Caesar in the supreme magistracy,
the pride and ambition of their great adversary might be held somewhat
in check. They accordingly made a contribution among themselves to
enable Bibulus to expend as much money in bribery as Lucceius, and the
canvass went on.
[Sidenote: Caesar assumes the whole power.]
[Sidenote: He imprisons Cato.]
It resulted in the election of Caesar and Bibulus. They entered upon the
duties of their office; but Caesar, almost entirely disregarding his
colleague, began to assume the whole power, and proposed and carried
measure after measure of the most extraordinary character, all aiming at
the gratification of the populace. He was at first opposed violently
both by Bibulus and by many leading members of the Senate, especially by
Cato, a stern and inflexible patriot, whom neither fear of danger nor
hope of reward could move from what he regarded his duty. But Caesar was
now getting strong enough to put down the opposition which he
encountered with out much scruple as to the means. He ordered Cato on
one occasion to be arrested in the Senate and sent to prison. Another
influential member of the Senate rose and was going out with him. Caesar
asked him where he was going. He said he was going with Cato. He would
rather, he said, be with Cato in prison, than in the Senate with Caesar.
[Sidenote: Bibulus retires to his house.]
[Sidenote: The year of "Julius and Caesar."]
Caesar treated Bibulus also with so much neglect, and assumed so
entirely the whole control of the consular power, to the utter exclusion
of his colleague, that Bibulus at last, completely discouraged and
chagrined, abandoned all pretension to official authority, retired to
his house, and shut himself up in perfect seclusion, leaving Caesar to
his own way. It was customary among the Romans, in their historical and
narrative writings, to designate the successive years, not by a
numerical date as with us, but by the names of the consuls who held
office in them. Thus, in the time of Caesar's consulship, the phrase
would have been, "In the year of Caesar and Bibulus, consuls," according
to the ordinary usage; but the wags of the city, in order to make sport
of the assumptions of Caesar and the insignificance of Bibulus, used to
say, "In the year of Julius and Caesar, consuls," rejecting the name of
Bibulus altogether, and taking the two names of Caesar to make out the
necessary duality.
CHAPTER IV.
THE CONQUEST OF GAUL.
[Sidenote: Caesar aspires to be a soldier.]
[Sidenote: His success and celebrity.]
In attaining to the consulship, Caesar had reached the highest point of
elevation which it was possible to reach as a mere citizen of Rome. His
ambition was, however, of course, not satisfied. The only way to acquire
higher distinction and to rise to higher power was to enter upon a
career of foreign conquest. Caesar therefore aspired now to be a
soldier. He accordingly obtained the command of an army, and entered
upon a course of military campaigns in the heart of Europe, which he
continued for eight years. These eight years constitute one of the most
important and strongly-marked periods of his life. He was triumphantly
successful in his military career, and he made, accordingly, a vast
accession to his celebrity and power, in his own day, by the results of
his campaigns. He also wrote, himself, an account of his adventures
during this period, in which the events are recorded in so lucid and in
so eloquent a manner, that the narrations have continued to be read by
every successive generation of scholars down to the present day, and
they have had a great influence in extending and perpetuating his fame.
[Sidenote: Scenes of Caesar's exploits.]
[Sidenote: Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul.]
The principal scenes of the exploits which Caesar performed during the
period of this his first great military career, were the north of Italy,
Switzerland, France, Germany, and England, a great tract of country,
nearly all of which he overran and conquered. A large portion of this
territory was called Gaul in those days; the part on the Italian side of
the Alps being named Cisalpine Gaul, while that which lay beyond was
designated as Transalpine. Transalpine Gaul was substantially what is
now France. There was a part of Transalpine Gaul which had been already
conquered and reduced to a Roman province. It was called The Province
then, and has retained the name, with a slight change in orthography, to
the present day. It is now known as Provence.
[Sidenote: Condition of Gaul in Caesar's day.]
[Sidenote: Singular cavalry.]
The countries which Caesar went to invade were occupied by various
nations and tribes, many of which were well organized and war-like, and
some of them were considerably civilized and wealthy. They had extended
tracts of cultivated land, the slopes of the hills and the mountain
sides being formed into green pasturages, which were covered with flocks
of goats, and sheep, and herds of cattle, while the smoother and more
level tracts were adorned with smiling vineyards and broadly-extended
fields of waving grain. They had cities, forts, ships, and armies. Their
manners and customs would be considered somewhat rude by modern nations,
and some of their usages of war were half barbarian. For example, in one
of the nations which Caesar encountered, he found, as he says in his
narrative, a corps of cavalry, as a constituent part of the army, in
which, to every horse, there were _two_ men, one the rider, and the
other a sort of foot soldier and attendant. If the battle went against
them, and the squadron were put to their speed in a retreat, these
footmen would cling to the manes-of the horses, and then, half running,
half flying, they would be borne along over the field, thus keeping
always at the side of their comrades, and escaping with them to a place
of safety.
[Sidenote: Caesar's plans.]
But, although the Romans were inclined to consider these nations as only
half civilized, still there would be great glory, as Caesar thought, in
subduing them, and probably great treasure would be secured in the
conquest, both by the plunder and confiscation of governmental
property, and by the tribute which would be collected in taxes from the
people of the countries subdued. Caesar accordingly placed himself at
the head of an army of three Roman legions, which he contrived, by means
of a great deal of political maneuvering and management, to have raised
and placed under his command. One of these legions, which was called the
tenth legion, was his favorite corps, on account of the bravery and
hardihood which they often displayed. At the head of these legions,
Caesar set out for Gaul. He was at this time not far from forty years
of age.
[Sidenote: His pretexts.]
Caesar had no difficulty in finding pretexts for making war upon any of
these various nations that he might desire to subdue. They were, of
course, frequently at war with each other, and there were at all times
standing topics of controversy and unsettled disputes among them. Caesar
had, therefore, only to draw near to the scene of contention, and then
to take sides with one party or the other, it mattered little with
which, for the affair almost always resulted, in the end, in his making
himself master of both. The manner, however, in which this sort of
operation was performed, can best be illustrated by an example, and we
will take for the purpose the case of Ariovistus.
[Sidenote: Ariovistus.]
[Sidenote: The Aeduans.]
Ariovistus was a German king. He had been nominally a sort of ally of
the Romans. He had extended his conquests across the Rhine into Gaul,
and he held some nations there as his tributaries. Among these, the
Aeduans were a prominent party, and, to simplify the account, we will
take their name as the representative of all who were concerned. When
Caesar came into the region of the Aeduans, he entered into some
negotiations with them, in which they, as he alleges, asked his
assistance to enable them to throw off the dominion of their German
enemy. It is probable, in fact, that there was some proposition of this
kind from them, for Caesar had abundant means of inducing them to make
it, if he was disposed, and the receiving of such a communication
furnished the most obvious and plausible pretext to authorize and
justify his interposition.
Caesar accordingly sent a messenger across the Rhine to Ariovistus,
saying that he wished to have an interview with him on business of
importance, and asking him to name a time which would be convenient to
him for the interview, and also to appoint some place in Gaul where he
would attend.
[Sidenote: Caesar's negotiations with Ariovistus.]
To this Ariovistus replied, that if he had, himself, any business with
Caesar, he would have waited upon him to propose it; and, in the same
manner, if Caesar wished to see him, he must come into his own
dominions. He said that it would not be safe for him to come into Gaul
without an army, and that it was not convenient for him to raise and
equip an army for such a purpose at that time.
[Sidenote: His message.]
Caesar sent again to Ariovistus to say, that since he was so unmindful
of his obligations to the Roman people as to refuse an interview with
him on business of common interest, he would state the particulars that
he required of him. The Aeduans, he said, were now his allies, and under
his protection; and Ariovistus must send back the hostages which he held
from them, and bind himself henceforth not to send any more troops
across the Rhine, nor make war upon the Aeduans, or injure them in any
way. If he complied with these terms, all would be well. If he did not,
Caesar said that he should not himself disregard the just complaints of
his allies.
[Sidenote: Ariovistus's spirited reply to Caesar.]
Ariovistus had no fear of Caesar. Caesar had, in fact, thus far, not
begun to acquire the military renown to which he afterward attained
Ariovistus had, therefore, no particular cause to dread his power. He
sent him back word that he did not understand why Caesar should
interfere between him and his conquered province.
"The Aeduans," said he, "tried the fortune of war with me, and were
overcome; and they must abide the issue. The Romans manage their
conquered provinces as they judge proper, without holding themselves
accountable to any one. I shall do the same with mine. All that I can
say is, that so long as the Aeduans submit peaceably to my authority,
and pay their tribute, I shall not molest them; as to your threat that
you shall not disregard their complaints, you must know that no one has
ever made war upon me but to his own destruction, and, if you wish to
see how it will turn out in your case, you may make the experiment
whenever you please."
[Sidenote: Preparations for war.]
Both parties immediately prepared for war. Ariovistus, instead of
waiting to be attacked, assembled his army, crossed the Rhine, and
advanced into the territories from which Caesar had undertaken to
exclude him.
[Sidenote: Panic in the Roman army.]
As Caesar, however, began to make his arrangements for putting his army
in motion to meet his approaching enemy, there began to circulate
throughout the camp such extraordinary stories of the terrible strength
and courage of the German soldiery as to produce a very general panic.
So great, at length, became the anxiety and alarm, that even the
officers were wholly dejected and discouraged; and as for the men, they
were on the very eve of mutiny.
[Sidenote: Caesar's address.]
When Caesar understood this state of things, he called an assembly of
the troops, and made an address to them. He told them that he was
astonished to learn to what an extent an unworthy despondency and fear
had taken possession of their minds, and how little confidence they
reposed in him, their general. And then, after some further remarks
about the duty of a soldier to be ready to go wherever his commander
leads him, and presenting also some considerations in respect to the
German troops with which they were going to contend, in order to show
them that they had no cause to fear, he ended by saying that he had not
been fully decided as to the time of marching, but that now he had
concluded to give orders for setting out the next morning at three
o'clock, that he might learn, as soon as possible, who were too cowardly
to follow him. He would go himself, he said, if he was attended by the
tenth legion alone He was sure that they would not shrink from any
undertaking in which he led the way.
[Sidenote: Effect of Caesar's address.]
[Sidenote: Proposals for an interview.]
The soldiers, moved partly by shame, partly by the decisive and
commanding tone which their general assumed, and partly reassured by the
courage and confidence which he seemed to feel, laid aside their fears,
and vied with each other henceforth in energy and ardor. The armies
approached each other. Ariovistus sent to Caesar, saying that now, if he
wished it, he was ready for an interview. Caesar acceded to the
suggestion, and the arrangements for a conference were made, each party,
as usual in such cases, taking every precaution to guard against the
treachery of the other.
Between the two camps there was a rising ground, in the middle of an
open plain, where it was decided that the conference should be held.
Ariovistus proposed that neither party should bring any foot soldiers to
the place of meeting, but cavalry alone; and that these bodies of
cavalry, brought by the respective generals, should remain at the foot
of the eminence on either side, while Caesar and Ariovistus themselves,
attended each by only ten followers on horseback, should ascend it. This
plan was acceded to by Caesar, and a long conference was held in this
way between the two generals, as they sat upon their horses, on the
summit of the hill.
[Sidenote: Conference between Caesar and Ariovistus.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's messenger seized.]
The two generals, in their discussion, only repeated in substance what
they had said in their embassages before, and made no progress toward
coming to an understanding. At length Caesar closed the conference and
withdrew. Some days afterward Ariovistus sent a request to Caesar,
asking that he would appoint another interview, or else that he would
depute one of his officers to proceed to Ariovistus's camp and receive a
communication which he wished to make to him. Caesar concluded not to
grant another interview, and he did not think it prudent to send any one
of his principal officers as an embassador, for fear that he might be
treacherously seized and held as a hostage. He accordingly sent an
ordinary messenger, accompanied by one or two men. These men were all
seized and put in irons as soon as they reached the camp of Ariovistus,
and Caesar now prepared in earnest for giving his enemy battle.
[Sidenote: Defeat of the Germans.]
He proved himself as skillful and efficient in arranging and managing
the combat as he had been sagacious and adroit in the negotiations which
preceded it. Several days were spent in maneuvers and movements, by
which each party endeavored to gain some advantage over the other in
respect to their position in the approaching struggle. When at length
the combat came, Caesar and his legions were entirely and triumphantly
successful. The Germans were put totally to flight. Their baggage and
stores were all seized, and the troops themselves fled in dismay by all
the roads which led back to the Rhine; and there those who succeeded in
escaping death from the Romans, who pursued them all the way, embarked
in boats and upon rafts, and returned to their homes. Ariovistus himself
found a small boat, in which, with one or two followers, he succeeded in
getting across the stream.
[Sidenote: Release of Caesar's messenger.]
As Caesar, at the head of a body of his troops, was pursuing the enemy
in this their flight, he overtook one party who had a prisoner with them
confined by iron chains fastened to his limbs, and whom they were
hurrying rapidly along. This prisoner proved to be the messenger that
Caesar had sent to Ariovistus's camp, and whom he had, as Caesar
alleges, treacherously detained. Of course, he was overjoyed to be
recaptured and set at liberty. The man said that three times they had
drawn lots to see whether they should burn him alive then, or reserve
the pleasure for a future occasion, and that every time the lot had
resulted in his favor.
[Sidenote: Results of the victory.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's continued success.]
The consequence of this victory was, that Caesar's authority was
established triumphantly over all that part of Gaul which he had thus
freed from Ariovistus's sway. Other parts of the country, too, were
pervaded by the fame of his exploits, and the people every where began
to consider what action it would be incumbent on them to take, in
respect to the new military power which had appeared so suddenly among
them. Some nations determined to submit without resistance, and to seek
the conqueror's alliance and protection. Others, more bold, or more
confident of their strength, began to form combinations and to arrange
plans for resisting him. But, whatever they did, the result in the end
was the same. Caesar's ascendency was every where and always gaining
ground. Of course, it is impossible in the compass of a single chapter,
which is all that can be devoted to the subject in this volume, to give
any regular narrative of the events of the eight years of Caesar's
military career in Gaul. Marches, negotiations, battles, and victories
mingled with and followed each other in a long succession, the
particulars of which it would require a volume to detail, every thing
resulting most successfully for the increase of Caesar's power and the
extension of his fame.
[Sidenote: Account of northern nations.]
[Sidenote: Their strange customs.]
[Sidenote: Well-trained horses.]
Caesar gives, in his narrative, very extraordinary accounts of the
customs and modes of life of some of the people that he encountered.
There was one country, for example, in which all the lands were common,
and the whole structure of society was based on the plan of forming the
community into one great martial band. The nation was divided into a
hundred cantons, each containing two thousand men capable of bearing
arms. If these were all mustered into service together, they would form,
of course, an army of two hundred thousand men. It was customary,
however, to organize only one half of them into an army, while the rest
remained at home to till the ground and tend the flocks and herds. These
two great divisions interchanged their work every year, the soldiers
becoming husbandmen, and the husbandmen soldiers. Thus they all became
equally inured to the hardships and dangers of the camp, and to the more
continuous but safer labors of agricultural toil. Their fields were
devoted to pasturage more than to tillage, for flocks and herds could be
driven from place to place, and thus more easily preserved from the
depredations of enemies than fields of grain. The children grew up
almost perfectly wild from infancy, and hardened themselves by bathing
in cold streams, wearing very little clothing, and making long hunting
excursions among the mountains. The people had abundance of excellent
horses, which the young men were accustomed, from their earliest years,
to ride without saddle or bridle, the horses being trained to obey
implicitly every command. So admirably disciplined were they, that
sometimes, in battle, the mounted men would leap from their horses and
advance as foot soldiers to aid the other infantry, leaving the horses
to stand until they returned. The horses would not move from the spot;
the men, when the object for which they had dismounted was accomplished,
would come back, spring to their seats again, and once more become a
squadron of cavalry.
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