[1281] The estuary of the Loire was the nearest considerable harbour to the scene of the naval battle. It is not likely that Caesar would have sent his fleet to any of the smaller ports in the country of the Veneti (see my Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul, 1899, p. 665); but supposing that he did so, my argument would hardly be affected.
[1282] See pp. 494-7, infra.
[1283] See my Caesar’s Conquest of Gaul, 1899, pp. 663-74.
[1284] Except perhaps sweeps, which they may have used occasionally to help them in tacking.
[1285] Reliquum erat certamen positum in virtute, qua nostri milites facile superabant. B. G., iii, 14, § 8.
[1286] ius legatorum. Ib., 16, § 4.
[1287] quod inde erat brevissimus in Britanniam traiectus. B. G., iv, 21, § 3.
[1288] See pp. 552-95, infra.
[1289] See A. E. E. Desjardins, Géogr. de la Gaule rom., i, 1876, pl. xv (p. 352), pl. xvii (p. 384), and cf. Boulogne-sur-mer et la région boulonnaise, i, 1899, p. 30.
[1290] tamen magno sibi usui fore arbitrabatur si modo insulam adisset, genus hominum perspexisset, loca, portus, aditus cognovisset. B. G., iv, 20, § 2.