The world's leading conquerors

by Wilson Lloyd Bevan

This situation and this program were known to Cæsar before he left Rome, for he was in communication with the pro-Roman party among the Ædui. It was of course his object to frustrate this plan of driving out the Germans without the help of Rome, because it was to his interest that Roman overlordship should take the place of German control. The request of the Helvetii to be allowed to pass peacefully through Roman territory came just in time. It gave Cæsar the opportunity of defending the frontier and strengthening his army.

As soon as the Helvetii were refused a passage through the Roman province, they started directly for the land of the Ædui, crossing over the Roman territory, and so they abandoned the fiction of a migration to the west. In the meantime, by the liberal use of money, the pro-Roman party among the Ædui had got the upper hand. Accordingly when the Helvetii, whose rear division had been attacked by Cæsar as they were crossing the Saône, reached the land of their would-be allies, they were treated as enemies by the Ædui, who were now calling on Cæsar for help to resist the invaders. The Helvetii, willing to return, desired to come to terms with the Roman general, but they refused to accept the Roman conditions as to hostages. They started to retrace their steps by following a more northerly course on their return in order to take advantage of the mountainous country, as a protection against an attack on the part of the Romans.

Cæsar followed warily; his own troops were indeed strengthened by Æduan cavalry, but these, on the first engagement, had fled before the enemy. It was obvious their loyalty could not be depended upon, and significant, too, that Dumnorix was in command. When an attempt to surround the Helvetii with two Roman legions failed, Cæsar withdrew to Bibracte, the Æduan capital, to replenish his army and probably to prevent the defection of his allies. The Helvetii might now have returned to their old home unmolested, but they were embittered against the Romans, who had shown constant hostility to their movements, whether they advanced or retreated, and they were quite willing to treat with the patriotic party among the Ædui, who asked them now for help against the Romans. They turned back therefore, with the purpose of attacking the Romans as they were marching towards Bibracte.

The actual number of the Helvetii engaged in this operation cannot have been very great, for their wagon train was in a very short time collected, formed, and turned into an improvised citadel. Their movements before, during, and after battle show that the number 368,000 given by Cæsar is enormously exaggerated. Altogether, including allied forces, Cæsar’s army may be reckoned at 40,000 men. There were six legions (36,000 men) and allied cavalry to the number of 4000.

When the Helvetii approached, the brunt of the fighting was assigned to four legions of veterans; the rest, the fresh recruits and the allies, were placed behind the line of battle and directed to protect the camp. As the Helvetii attacked the four legions, who were advantageously stationed on the slope of a hill, they were thrown back; but, as the legions advanced, these in turn were vigorously attacked on their flanks. The battle was hotly contested, the Romans taking the offensive both in the front and on the sides. Slowly the enemy withdrew, and it was dark before the Roman army took the massed wagons by assault. After the victory, Cæsar remained on the field of battle for three days. The Helvetii fled towards the east and a few days later surrendered, most of them being sent back to their old homes. The Helvetian overthrow was a useful stroke; it made a decided impression on the Gauls, who were now able to take the measure of the new commander of the Romans.

The next move was to break the power of Ariovistus. Cæsar represents the suggestion as coming from various Gallic deputations, who besought him to help them cast off the German yoke. But it is obvious that the presence of Ariovistus in Gaul was incompatible with the purpose of Cæsar to subjugate the entire country. All negotiations with the German chieftain proved futile; he insisted on keeping the Gallic tribes as his tributaries, and simply asked to be let alone.

Cæsar took his army to the east and came into contact with the Germans in the neighborhood of Belfort or in southern Alsace; it is impossible to determine the locality with precision. Ariovistus collected his wagons into a fortified camp on an elevation a short distance from the position of the Romans, using his advantage to break up by cavalry sorties the Roman line of communication. His plan appears to have been to force the Romans to withdraw and to attack them on their march. The German leader took full advantage of the mobility of his troops, and his cavalry proved too strong for the Gallic horse on the side of the Romans. All attempts to draw Ariovistus from his camp failed, until Cæsar divided his army, placing two legions in a fortified position, where they could more efficiently protect the line of communications. This smaller camp Ariovistus tried to take by storm, and failed.

When the main Roman army advanced, and began to threaten the wagon citadel of the Germans, Ariovistus determined to give battle. The battle itself was won through the superior discipline of the Romans; once during its progress the left wing was in danger, but it was saved by the prompt action of the younger Crassus, who was in command of the cavalry. Cæsar with the right wing carried all before him. As to the numbers engaged, it was Napoleon’s opinion that the Germans were not stronger than Cæsar; the probability is that they were weaker. Ariovistus’ whole army, though with it he controlled a large part of Gaul, need not have been more than 20,000 men. They were, of course, a better trained fighting force than anything the Gallic tribes could create, and it was not difficult, using the divisions among the Gauls, to establish an effective overlordship with a small, well-disciplined army.

Apparently the bulk of the German army was destroyed; Ariovistus, however, succeeded in making his escape beyond the Rhine. The defeat of the Germans had important consequences; before the opening of the campaign against Ariovistus, news had come from the north that the Suevi, an important German tribe, were about to move across the Rhine. The knowledge of the fate of Ariovistus forced them back again into the depths of Germany.

During the winter Cæsar crossed the Alps to attend to the administration of the Cisalpine province, leaving his troops quartered in Gaul under the command of his trusted lieutenant, Labienus. He raised two new legions, and when he returned northward it was already plain that the pacification of the country was far from complete. The Gauls feared the expansion of Roman power, and there were rumors of an uprising to be led by the tribes of the Belgæ. Cæsar marched directly to the danger spot, and taking advantage of tribal jealousies, induced the Remi, whose territory lay between the Maas, the Oise, and the Maine, to accept the alliance and protectorate of Rome. (57 B.C.)