History of Julius Cæsar, Vol. 2 of 2

I. There are peoples whose existence in the past only reveals itself by certain brilliant apparitions, unequivocal proofs of an energy which had been previously unknown. During...

I. Transalpine Gaul had for its boundaries the ocean, the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, the Alps, and the Rhine. This portion of Europe, so well marked out by nature, comprised w...

I. Cæsar, as we have seen, had received from the Senate and people a command which comprised the two Gauls (Transalpine and Cisalpine) and Illyria.[153] Yet the agitation which...

I. On the termination of the war against the Helvetii, the chiefs of nearly all Celtic Gaul went to congratulate Cæsar, and thank him for having, at the same time, avenged their...

I. The brilliant successes gained by Cæsar over the Helvetii and the Germans had delivered the Republic from an immense danger, but at the same time they had roused the distrust...

I. While Cæsar was visiting Illyria and the different towns of the Cisalpine, such as Ravenna and Lucca, war broke out anew in Gaul. The cause was this. Young P. Crassus was in...

I. The Usipetes and the Tencteri, German peoples driven out of their place by the Suevi, had wandered during three years in different countries of Germany, when, during the wint...

I. Cæsar, after having appeased the troubles of Illyria, and passed some time in Italy, rejoined the army in the country of the Belgæ, at the beginning of June in the year 700....

I. The state of Gaul gave Cæsar cause to anticipate serious agitations, and he felt convinced of the necessity of new levies. He employed on this mission his lieutenants M. Sila...

I. The Roman arms had in six years subjugated, one after another, the principal states of Gaul. Belgium, Aquitaine, and the countries on the sea-coast, had been the theatre of t...

I. The capture of Alesia and that of Vercingetorix, in spite of the united efforts of all Gaul, naturally gave Cæsar hopes of a general submission; and he therefore believed tha...

I. In the preceding book we have given, from the “Commentaries,” the relation of the war in Gaul, and endeavoured to elucidate doubtful questions, and to discover the localities...

I. Cæsar’s victories had awakened among the Gauls feelings of admiration, but also of distrust; they could not see without fear that it had required only six legions to scatter...

I. The Consuls of the year preceding had just been succeeded by Cn. Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus and L. Marcius Philippus; the latter allied by family to Cæsar, whose niece, A...

I. The successes of the preceding campaign, and the existence of a Roman fleet in the waters of the Morbihan, must have given Cæsar the hope that nothing henceforth would preven...

I. The expedition to England, in 699, may be said to have been only a reconnoitring visit, showing the necessity of more numerous forces and more considerable preparations to su...

I. The disturbed state of Gaul and the loss of fifteen cohorts at Tongres obliged Cæsar to augment his army; he raised two legions in the Cisalpine, and asked for a third from P...

I. Rome seemed to be given up only to the petty contentions of individuals; but, behind the men who stood in view, grave interests and violent passions were in agitation. The di...

I. The capture of Alesia and the defeat of the army of succour, composed of all the contingents of Gaul, must have encouraged the hope that the war was ended; but the popular wa...

I. The year 703 had been employed in intrigues with the object of overthrowing Cæsar, and the aristocratic party believed that, for the success of this sort of plot, it could re...

I. In the course of the summer, it will be remembered, Cæsar had returned to Arras, to the middle of his army, which was encamped in the north of Gaul. He was informed of the pl...

[255] Antiquaries hesitate between Beauvais, Montdidier, or Breteuil. We adopt Breteuil as the most probable, according to the dissertation on Bratuspantium, by M. l’Abbé Devic,...