History of Julius Caesar Vol. 2 of 2

403

De Bello Gallico, V. 17.

404

There remains not the slightest vestige in the county of Kent which might help us in tracing the march of the Roman army. The camp of Holwood, near Keston, which the English maps call Cæsar’s Camp, does not belong to the period of which we are treating. On St. George’s Hill, near Walton-on-the-Thames, no camp ever existed.

Unfortunately, it is no more possible to ascertain the exact place where Cæsar crossed the Thames by a ford. We are convinced of this by the researches of all kinds made by the officers Stoffel and Hamelin. The boatmen of the Thames all assured them that between Shepperton and London there are now reckoned eight or nine places fordable; the most favourable is that at Sunbury. At Kingston, where General de Gœler places the passage, nothing leads us to suppose that a ford ever existed. The same thing must be said of Coway Stakes. At Halliford, in spite of the termination of the word, the inhabitants have no tradition of an ancient ford. The only thing which appears to us evident is, that the Roman army did not pass below Teddington. We know that this village, the name of which comes from Tide-end-town, marks the last point of the Thames where the tide is felt. We cannot believe that Cæsar would expose himself to be surprised during his passage by an increase of the volume of water.

405

De Bello Gallico, V. 18. – Polyænus expresses himself thus: “Cæsar, when he was in the isle of Britain, sought to pass a great river. Cassivellaunus, King of the Britons, opposed the passage with a numerous cavalry and many chariots. Cæsar had a very great elephant, an animal which the Britons had never seen; he armed it with iron flakes, and placed on its back a great tower filled with archers and slingers, all men of skill, and caused it to advance into the river. The Britons were struck with astonishment at the view of such an enormous animal, which was unknown to them. And is it necessary to say that their horses were frightened at it, since we know that, even among the Greeks, the presence of an elephant causes the horses to flee? Much more were those of the barbarians unable to support the view of an elephant armed and loaded with a tower from which flew stones and arrows. Britons, horses, and chariots, all equally took flight; and the Romans, by means of the terror caused by a single animal, passed the river without danger.” (Strateg., VIII. 23, § 5.)

406

After having crossed the Thames, Cæsar invaded the territory of Cassivellaunus, and directed his march to the oppidum of that chief. Certain commentators place this oppidum to the west of Wendover (see Plate 15), others at St. Albans, the ancient Verulamium. All we can possibly say is, that the brief indications of the “Commentaries” seem to agree best with the latter locality.

407

De Bello Gallico, V. 22.

408

De Bello Gallico, V. 23.

409

Strabo, p. 167.

410

Pliny, Hist. Nat., IX., 116. – Solinus, LIII. 28.

411

“I have received, on the 4th of the nones of June (the 1st of June, according to the concordance here adopted, see Appendix A), your letter dated from Placentia; that of the following day, dated from Lodi, arrived on the very day of the nones (4th of June).” It was accompanied with a letter from Cæsar, expressing his satisfaction at the arrival of Quintus. (Cicero, Epist. ad Quintum, II. 15.

412

Cicero, Epist. ad Atticum, IV. 15. This letter was closed on the 5th of the calends of August, answering to the 26th of July.

413

“I have received, on the day of the ides of September (the 9th of September), your fourth letter, dated from Britain on the 4th of the ides of August (8th of August).” (Epist. ad Quintum, III. 1.

414

“The 11th of the calends of October (16th of September) your courier arrived; he has taken twenty days on the road; my uneasiness was mortal.” (Epist. ad Quintum, III. 1.) – “Cæsar has written to me from Britain a letter, dated on the calends of September (28th of August), which I received on the 4th of the calends of October. It appears that affairs are not going on ill with him. Cæsar adds, to prevent me from being surprised at not hearing from you, that you were not with him when he came to the coast (23rd of September).”

415

Cicero, Epist. ad Quintum, III. 3.

416

At ten miles to the east of Deal it is high tide half an hour later than at Dover, and the reflux begins there four hours after the hour of high tide.

417

Those who refuse to admit Boulogne and Deal for the points of Cæsar’s embarking and landing, pretend that so long a time was not necessary to effect so short a passage. But a fleet requires a longer time to navigate the more numerous it is; resembling in that an army, which marches much more slowly than a single man.

418

Cicero, Epist. ad Atticum, IV. 17.

419

To find the time required, we must suppose that, by some delay or by the absence of regular couriers, Cæsar’s letter to Cicero had been thirteen days on the road between Lodi and Rome.

420

Much uncertainty exists in regard to the distribution of the legions; yet the location of two of the winter quarters appears to us certain, Samarobriva (Amiens) and Aduatuca (Tongres). If now, from a point situate near to the Sambre, from Bavay as the centre, we describe a circle, we shall see that Cæsar’s winter quarters, except those of Normandy, were all comprised in a radius of 100 miles, or 148 kilomètres. The researches which Major Cohausen kindly made for me, and those of MM. Stoffel and Locqueyssie, have enabled me to determine approximately the winter quarters.

421

The brother of the orator.

422

The Commandant of Artillery, De Locqueyssie, has found on the Ourthe, near the village of Lavacherie (Duchy of Luxemburg), the remains of a Roman camp with triangular fosses, and in a position which appears to agree with the date of the “Commentaries.”

423

Under the name of Belgium, we must only comprise a part of the peoples of Belgic Gaul, such as the Atrebates, the Ambiani, and the Bellovaci. (De Bello Gallico, V. 24, 25, 46; VIII. 46.)

424

Unam legionem, quam proxime trans Padum conscripserat.– According to the use of the good Latin writers, proxime does not mean recently, but in the last place. Through an incorrect interpretation of this phrase, General de Gœler has supposed that Cæsar had, at this time, brought from Italy the 15th legion; this legion, as we shall see, was only raised at a later period.

425

More than fourteen different localities have been proposed for identification with Aduatuca. If some writers have advanced good arguments for placing Aduatuca on the right bank of the Meuse, others have believed that they have offered equally good ones for seeking it on the left bank of that river; but the greater part of them have admitted this or that site for the most futile reasons. Nobody has dreamt of resolving the question by the simplest of all means – which consists in seeking if, among the different sites proposed, there is one which, by the form of the ground, agrees with the requirements of the narrative given in the “Commentaries.” Now, Tongres is in this position, and it alone, and so completely satisfies them that we cannot think of placing Aduatuca elsewhere. In fact, Tongres is situated in the country occupied formerly by the Eburones, and, as Cæsar expresses it, in modiis finibus Eburonum, which signifies entirely in the country of the Eburones, and not in the centre of the country. It is moreover enclosed in a circle of a hundred miles radius, comprising all the winter quarters of the Roman army except those of Roscius. This locality fulfils all the conditions required for the establishment of a camp; it is near a river, on a height which commands the neighborhood, and the country produces wheat and forage. At two miles towards the west is a long defile, magna convallis, the vale of Lowaige, where the relation of the massacre of the cohorts of Sabinus is perfectly explained. At three miles from Tongres we find a plain, separated from the town by a single hill; on the same side as this hill rises a rounded eminence – that of Berg, to which the name of tumulus may be fairly applied. Lastly, the Geer, the banks of which were formerly marshy, defended through a large extent the height of Tongres. (See Plate 18.)

426

De Bello Gallico, V. 25.

427