History of Julius Caesar by Jacob Abbott

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[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity with the army.]
[Sidenote: Caesar's military habits.]
[Sidenote: His bridge across the Rhine.]

Although Caesar was very energetic and decided in the government of his
army, he was extremely popular with his soldiers in all these campaigns.
He exposed his men, of course, to a great many privations and hardships,
but then he evinced, in many cases, such a willingness to bear his share
of them, that the men were very little inclined to complain. He moved
at the head of the column when his troops were advancing on a march,
generally on horseback, but often on foot; and Suetonius says that he
used to go bareheaded on such occasions, whatever was the state of the
weather, though it is difficult to see what the motive of this
apparently needless exposure could be, unless it was for effect, on some
special or unusual occasion. Caesar would ford or swim rivers with his
men whenever there was no other mode of transit, sometimes supported, it
was said, by bags inflated with air, and placed under his arms. At one
time he built a bridge across the Rhine, to enable his army to cross
that river. This bridge was built with piles driven down into the sand,
which supported a flooring of timbers. Caesar, considering it quite an
exploit thus to bridge the Rhine, wrote a minute account of the manner
in which the work was constructed, and the description is almost exactly
in accordance with the principles and usages of modern carpentry.

[Sidenote: System of posts.]
[Sidenote: Their great utility.]

After the countries which were the scene of these conquests were pretty
well subdued, Caesar established on some of the great routes of travel a
system of posts, that is, he stationed supplies of horses at intervals
of from ten to twenty miles along the way, so that he himself, or the
officers of his army, or any couriers whore he might have occasion to
send with dispatches could travel with great speed by finding a fresh
horse ready at every stage. By this means he sometimes traveled himself
a hundred miles in a day. This system, thus adopted for military
purposes in Caesar's time, has been continued in almost all countries of
Europe to the present age, and is applied to traveling in carriages as
well as on horseback. A family party purchase a carriage, and arranging
within it all the comforts and conveniences which they will require on
the journey, they set out, taking these post horses, fresh at each
village, to draw them to the next. Thus they can go at any rate of speed
which they desire, instead of being limited in their movements by the
powers of endurance of one set of animals, as they would be compelled to
be if they were to travel with their own. This plan has, for some
reason, never been introduced into America, and it is now probable that
it never will be, as the railway system will doubtless supersede it.

[Sidenote: Caesar's invasion of Britain.]
[Sidenote: His pretext for it.]

One of the most remarkable of the enterprises which Caesar undertook
during the period of these campaigns was his excursion into Great
Britain. The real motive of this expedition was probably a love of
romantic adventure, and a desire to secure for himself at Rome the glory
of having penetrated into remote regions which Roman armies had never
reached before. The pretext, however, which he made to justify his
invading the territories of the Britons was, that the people of the
island were accustomed to come across the Channel and aid the Gauls in
their wars.

[Sidenote: Caesar consults the merchants.]

In forming his arrangements for going into England, the first thing was,
to obtain all the information which was accessible in Gaul in respect to
the country. There were, in those days, great numbers of traveling
merchants, who went from one nation to another to purchase and sell,
taking with them such goods as were most easy of transportation. These
merchants, of course, were generally possessed of a great deal of
information in respect to the countries which they had visited, and
Caesar called together as many of them as he could find, when he had
reached the northern shores of France, to inquire about the modes of
crossing the Channel, the harbors on the English side, the geographical
conformation of the country, and the military resources of the people.
He found, however, that the merchants could give him very little
information. They knew that Britain was an island, but they did not know
its extent or its boundaries; and they could tell him very little of the
character or customs of the people. They said that they had only been
accustomed to land upon the southern shore, and to transact all their
business there, without penetrating at all into the interior of
the country.

[Sidenote: Volusenus.]

Caesar then, who, though undaunted and bold in emergencies requiring
prompt and decisive action, was extremely cautious and wary at all other
times, fitted up a single ship, and, putting one of his officers on
board with a proper crew, directed him to cross the Channel to the
English coast, and then to cruise along the land for some miles in each
direction, to observe where were the best harbors and places for
landing, and to examine generally the appearance of the shore. This
vessel was a galley, manned with numerous oarsmen, well selected and
strong, so that it could retreat with great speed from any sudden
appearance of danger The name of the officer who had the command of it
was Volusenus. Volusenus set sail, the army watching his vessel with
great interest as it moved slowly away from the shore. He was gone five
days, and then returned, bringing Caesar an account of his discoveries.

[Sidenote: Caesar collects vessels.]

In the mean time, Caesar had collected a large number of sailing vessels
from the whole line of the French shore, by means of which he proposed
to transport his army across the Channel. He had two legions to take
into Britain, the remainder of his forces having been stationed as
garrisons in various parts of Gaul. It was necessary, too, to leave a
considerable force at his post of debarkation, in order to secure a safe
retreat in case of any disaster on the British side. The number of
transport ships provided for the foot soldiers which were to be taken
over was eighty. There were, besides these, eighteen more, which were
appointed to convey a squadron of horse. This cavalry force was to
embark at a separate port, about eighty miles distant from the one from
which the infantry were to sail.

[Sidenote: Embarkation of the troops.]

At length a suitable day for the embarkation arrived; the troops were
put on board the ships, and orders were given to sail. The day could not
be fixed beforehand, as the time for attempting to make the passage must
necessarily depend upon the state of the wind and weather. Accordingly,
when the favorable opportunity arrived, and the main body of the army
began to embark it took some time to send the orders to the port where
the cavalry had rendezvoused; and there were, besides, other causes of
delay which occurred to detain this corps, so that it turned out, as we
shall presently see, that the foot soldiers had to act alone in the
first attempt at landing on the British shore.

[Sidenote: Sailing of the fleet.]
[Sidenote: Preparations of the Britons.]

It was one o'clock in the morning when the fleet set sail. The Britons
had, in the mean time, obtained intelligence of Caesar's threatened
invasion, and they had assembled in great force, with troops, and
horsemen, and carriages of war, and were all ready to guard the shore.
The coast, at the point where Caesar was approaching, consists of a line
of chalky cliffs, with valley-like openings here and there between them,
communicating with the shore, and sometimes narrow beaches below. When
the Roman fleet approached the land, Caesar found the cliffs every where
lined with troops of Britons, and every accessible point below carefully
guarded. It was now about ten o'clock in the morning, and Caesar,
finding the prospect so unfavorable in respect to the practicability of
effecting a landing here, brought his fleet to anchor near the shore,
but far enough from it to be safe from the missiles of the enemy.

[Sidenote: Caesar calls a council of officers.]

Here he remained for several hours, to give time for all the vessels to
join him. Some of them had been delayed in the embarkation, or had made
slower progress than the rest in crossing the Channel. He called a
council, too, of the superior officers of the army on board his own
galley, and explained to them the plan which he now adopted for the
landing. About three o'clock in the afternoon he sent these officers
back to their respective ships, and gave orders to make sail along the
shore. The anchors were raised and the fleet moved on, borne by the
united impulse of the wind and the tide. The Britons, perceiving this
movement, put themselves in motion on the land, following the motions of
the fleet so as to be ready to meet their enemy wherever they might
ultimately undertake to land. Their horsemen and carriages went on in
advance, and the foot soldiers followed, all pressing eagerly forward to
keep up with the motion of the fleet, and to prevent Caesar's army from
having time to land before they should arrive at the spot and be ready
to oppose them.

[Illustration: THE LANDING IN ENGLAND]

[Sidenote: The landing.]
[Sidenote: The battle.]
[Sidenote: Defeat of the Britons.]

The fleet moved on until, at length, after sailing about eight miles,
they came to a part of the coast where there was a tract of
comparatively level ground, which seemed to be easily accessible from
the shore. Here Caesar determined to attempt to land; and drawing up his
vessel, accordingly, as near as possible to the beach, he ordered the
men to leap over into the water, with their weapons in their hands. The
Britons were all here to oppose them, and a dreadful struggle ensued,
the combatants dyeing the waters with their blood as they fought, half
submerged in the surf which rolled in upon the sand. Some galleys rowed
up at the same time near to the shore, and the men on board of them
attacked the Britons from the decks, by the darts and arrows which they
shot to the land. Caesar at last prevailed; the Britons were driven
away, and the Roman army established themselves in quiet possession of
the shore.

[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity at Rome.]

Caesar had afterward a great variety of adventures, and many narrow
escapes from imminent dangers in Britain, and, though he gained
considerable glory by thus penetrating into such remote and unknown
regions, there was very little else to be acquired. The glory, however,
was itself of great value to Caesar. During the whole period of his
campaigns in Gaul, Rome and all Italy in fact, had been filled with the
fame of his exploits, and the expedition into Britain added not a little
to his renown. The populace of the city were greatly gratified to hear
of the continued success of their former favorite. They decreed to him
triumph after triumph, and were prepared to welcome him, whenever he
should return, with greater honors and more extended and higher powers
than he had ever enjoyed before.

[Sidenote: Results of his campaigns.]

Caesar's exploits in these campaigns were, in fact, in a military point
of view, of the most magnificent character. Plutarch, in summing up the
results of them, says that he took eight hundred cities, conquered three
hundred nations, fought pitched battles at separate times with three
millions of men, took one million of prisoners, and killed another
million on the field. What a vast work of destruction was this for a man
to spend eight years of his life in performing upon his
fellow-creatures, merely to gratify his insane love of dominion.

CHAPTER V.

POMPEY.

[Sidenote: Pompey.]

While Caesar had thus been rising to so high an elevation, there was
another Roman general who had been, for nearly the same period, engaged,
in various other quarters of the world, in acquiring, by very similar
means, an almost equal renown. This general was Pompey. He became, in
the end, Caesar's great and formidable rival. In order that the reader
may understand clearly the nature of the great contest which sprung up
at last between these heroes, we must now go back and relate some of the
particulars of Pompey's individual history down to the time of the
completion of Caesar's conquests in Gaul.

[Sidenote: His birth.]
[Sidenote: Pompey's personal appearance.]

Pompey was a few years older than Caesar, having been born in 106 B.C.
His father was a Roman general, and the young Pompey was brought up in
camp. He was a young man of very handsome figure and countenance, and of
very agreeable manners. His hair curled slightly over his forehead, and
he had a dark and intelligent eye, full of vivacity and meaning. There
was, besides, in the expression of his face, and in his air and address,
a certain indescribable charm, which prepossessed every one strongly in
his favor, and gave him, from his earliest years, a great personal
ascendency over all who knew him.

[Sidenote: Plans to assassinate him.]

Notwithstanding this popularity, however, Pompey did not escape, even in
very early life, incurring his share of the dangers which seemed to
environ the path of every public man in those distracted times. It will
be recollected that, in the contests between Marius and Sylla, Caesar
had joined the Marian faction. Pompey's father, on the other hand, had
connected himself with that of Sylla. At one time, in the midst of these
wars, when Pompey was very young, a conspiracy was formed to assassinate
his father by burning him in his tent, and Pompey's comrade, named
Terentius, who slept in the same tent with him, had been bribed to kill
Pompey himself at the same time, by stabbing him in his bed. Pompey
contrived to discover this plan, but, instead of being at all
discomposed by it, he made arrangements for a guard about his father's
tent and then went to supper as usual with Terentius, conversing with
him all the time in even a more free and friendly manner than usual.
That night he arranged his bed so as to make it appear as if he was in
it, and then stole away. When the appointed hour arrived, Terentius came
into the tent, and, approaching the couch where he supposed Pompey was
lying asleep, stabbed it again and again, piercing the coverlets in many
places, but doing no harm, of course, to his intended victim.

[Sidenote: Pompey's adventures and escapes.]
[Sidenote: Death of his father.]
[Sidenote: Pompey appears in his father's defense.]

In the course of the wars between Marius and Sylla, Pompey passed
through a great variety of scenes, and met with many extraordinary
adventures and narrow escapes, which, however, can not be here
particularly detailed. His father, who was as much hated by his soldiers
as the son was beloved, was at last, one day, struck by lightning in his
tent. The soldiers were inspired with such a hatred for his memory, in
consequence, probably, of the cruelties and oppressions which they had
suffered from him, that they would not allow his body to be honored with
the ordinary funeral obsequies. They pulled it off from the bier on
which it was to have been borne to the funeral pile, and dragged it
ignominiously away. Pompey's father was accused, too, after his death,
of having converted some public moneys which had been committed to his
charge to his own use, and Pompey appeared in the Roman Forum as an
advocate to defend him from the charge and to vindicate his memory. He
was very successful in this defense. All who heard it were, in the first
instance, very deeply interested in favor of the speaker, on account of
his extreme youth and his personal beauty; and, as he proceeded with his
plea, he argued with so much eloquence and power as to win universal
applause. One of the chief officers of the government in the city was so
much pleased with his appearance, and with the promise of future
greatness which the circumstances indicated, that he offered him his
daughter in marriage. Pompey accepted the offer, and married the lady.
Her name was Antistia.

[Sidenote: His success as a general.]
[Sidenote: Pompey defeats the armies.]

Pompey rose rapidly to higher and higher degrees of distinction, until
he obtained the command of an army, which he had, in fact, in a great
measure raised and organized himself, and he fought at the head of it
with great energy and success against the enemies of Sylla. At length he
was hemmed in on the eastern coast of Italy by three separate armies,
which were gradually advancing against him, with a certainty, as they
thought, of effecting his destruction. Sylla, hearing of Pompey's
danger, made great efforts to march to his rescue. Before he reached the
place, however, Pompey had met and defeated one after another of the
armies of his enemies, so that, when Sylla approached, Pompey marched
out to meet him with his army drawn up in magnificent array, trumpets
sounding and banners flying, and with large bodies of disarmed troops,
the prisoners that he had taken, in the rear. Sylla was struck with
surprise and admiration; and when Pompey saluted him with the title of
_Imperator_, which was the highest title known to the Roman
constitution, and the one which Sylla's lofty rank and unbounded power
might properly claim, Sylla returned the compliment by conferring this
great mark of distinction on him.

[Sidenote: His rising fame.]
[Sidenote: Pompey's modesty.]

Pompey proceeded to Rome, and the fame of his exploits, the singular
fascination of his person and manners, and the great favor with Sylla
that he enjoyed, raised him to a high degree of distinction. He was not,
however, elated with the pride and vanity which so young a man would be
naturally expected to exhibit under such circumstances. He was, on the
contrary, modest and unassuming, and he acted in all respects in such a
manner as to gain the approbation and the kind regard of all who knew
him, as well as to excite their applause. There was an old general at
this time in Gaul--for all these events took place long before the time
of Caesar's campaigns in that country, and, in fact, before the
commencement of his successful career in Rome--whose name was Metellus,
and who, either on account of his advancing age, or for some other
reason, was very inefficient and unsuccessful in his government. Sylla
proposed to supersede him by sending Pompey to take his place. Pompey
replied that it was not right to take the command from a man who was so
much his superior in age and character, but that, if Metellus wished for
his _assistance_ in the management of his command, he would proceed to
Gaul and render him every service in his power. When this answer was
reported to Metellus, he wrote to Pompey to come. Pompey accordingly
went to Gaul, where he obtained new victories, and gained new and higher
honors than before.

[Sidenote: An example.]
[Sidenote: Pompey divorces his wife.]
[Sidenote: He marries Sylla's daughter-in-law.]

These, and various anecdotes which the ancient historians relate, would
lead us to form very favorable ideas of Pompey's character. Some other
circumstances, however, which occurred, seem to furnish different
indications. For example, on his return to Rome, some time after the
events above related, Sylla, whose estimation of Pompey's character and
of the importance of his services seemed continually to increase, wished
to connect him with his own family by marriage. He accordingly proposed
that Pompey should divorce his wife Antistia, and marry Aemilia, the
daughter-in-law of Sylla. Aemilia was already the wife of another man,
from whom she would have to be taken away to make her the wife of
Pompey. This, however, does not seem to have been thought a very serious
difficulty in the way of the arrangement. Pompey's wife was put away,
and the wife of another man taken in her place. Such a deed was a gross
violation not merely of revealed and written law, but of those universal
instincts of right and wrong which are implanted indelibly in all human
hearts. It ended, as might have been expected, most disastrously.
Antistia was plunged, of course, into the deepest distress. Her father
had recently lost his life on account of his supposed attachment to
Pompey. Her mother killed herself in the anguish and despair produced by
the misfortunes of her family; and Aemilia the new wife, died suddenly,
on the occasion of the birth of a child, a very short time after her
marriage with Pompey.

[Sidenote: Pompey's success in Africa.]
[Sidenote: Attachment of his soldiers.]
[Sidenote: Pompey's title as "Great."]

These domestic troubles did not, however, interpose any serious obstacle
to Pompey's progress in his career of greatness and glory. Sylla sent
him on one great enterprise after another, in all of which Pompey
acquitted himself in an admirable manner. Among his other campaigns, he
served for some time in Africa with great success. He returned in due
time from this expedition, loaded with military honors. His soldiers had
become so much attached to him that there was almost a mutiny in the
army when he was ordered home. They were determined to submit to no
authority but that of Pompey. Pompey at length succeeded, by great
efforts, in subduing this spirit, and bringing back the army to their
duty. A false account of the affair, however, went to Rome. It was
reported to Sylla that there was a revolt in the army of Africa, headed
by Pompey himself, who was determined not to resign his command. Sylla
was at first very indignant that his authority should be despised and
his power braved, as he expressed it, by "such a boy;" for Pompey was
still, at this time, very young. When, however, he learned the truth, he
conceived a higher admiration for the young general than ever. He went
out to meet him as he approached the city, and, in accosting him, he
called him Pompey the Great. Pompey has continued to bear the title thus
given him to the present day.

[Sidenote: He demands a triumph.]

Pompey began, it seems, now to experience, in some degree, the usual
effects produced upon the human heart by celebrity and praise. He
demanded a triumph. A triumph was a great and splendid ceremony, by
which victorious generals, who were of advanced age and high civil or
military rank, were received into the city when returning from any
specially glorious campaign. There was a grand procession formed on
these occasions, in which various emblems and insignia, and trophies of
victory, and captives taken by the conqueror, were displayed. This great
procession entered the city with bands of music accompanying it, and
flags and banners flying, passing under triumphal arches erected along
the way. Triumphs were usually decreed by a vote of the Senate, in cases
where they were deserved; but, in this case, Sylla's power as dictator
was supreme, and Pompey's demand for a triumph seems to have been
addressed accordingly to him.

[Sidenote: Sylla refuses Pompey a triumph.]

Sylla refused it. Pompey's performances in the African campaign had
been, he admitted, very creditable to him, but he had neither the Age
nor the rank to justify the granting him a triumph. To bestow such an
honor upon one so young and in such a station, would only bring the
honor itself, he said, into disrepute, and degrade, also, his
dictatorship for suffering it.

[Sidenote: But at last consents.]

To this Pompey replied, speaking, however, in an under tone to those
around him in the assembly, that Sylla need not fear that the triumph
would be unpopular, for people were much more disposed to worship a
rising than a setting sun. Sylla did not hear this remark, but,
perceiving by the countenances of the by-standers that Pompey had said
something which seemed to please them, he asked what it was. When the
remark was repeated to him, he seemed pleased himself with its justness
or with its wit, and said, "Let him have his triumph."

[Sidenote: Pompey's triumph.]

The arrangements were accordingly made Pompey ordering every thing
necessary to be prepared for a most magnificent procession. He learned
that some persons in the city, envious at his early renown, were
displeased with his triumph; this only awakened in him a determination
to make it still more splendid and imposing. He had brought some
elephants with him from Africa, and he formed a plan for having the car
in which he was to ride in the procession drawn by four of these huge
beasts as it entered the city; but, on measuring the gate, it was found
not wide enough to admit such a team, and the plan was accordingly
abandoned. The conqueror's car was drawn by horses in the usual manner,
and the elephants followed singly, with the other trophies, to grace
the train.

[Sidenote: His course of conduct at Rome.]

Pompey remained some time after this in Rome, sustaining from time to
time various offices of dignity and honor. His services were often
called for to plead causes in the Forum, and he performed this duty,
whenever he undertook it, with great success. He, however, seemed
generally inclined to retire somewhat from intimate intercourse with the
mass of the community, knowing very well that if he was engaged often in
the discussion of common questions with ordinary men, he should soon
descend in public estimation from the high position to which his
military renown had raised him. He accordingly accustomed himself to
appear but little in public, and, when he did so appear, he was
generally accompanied by a large retinue of armed attendants, at the
head of which he moved about the city in great state, more like a
victorious general in a conquered province than like a peaceful citizen
exercising ordinary official functions in a community governed by law.
This was a very sagacious course, so far as concerned the attainment of
the great objects of future ambition. Pompey knew very well that
occasions would probably arise in which he could act far more
effectually for the promotion of his own greatness and fame than by
mingling in the ordinary municipal contests of the city.

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