The Gauls implore Caesar's help against Ariovistus
The Helvetian war being over, deputies from almost all of Gaul and the principal inhabitants of the cities came to congratulate Caesar; they well knew, they said, that his war against the Helvetii was the vengeance of the injuries done to the Roman people; but Gaul derived no less profit from it than the republic, since the Helvetii had left their towns, whose state was so flourishing, only in order to carry their arms throughout the territory of the Gauls, to to make masters of it, to choose among so many countries, in order to establish themselves there, the richest and most fertile, and to impose tribute on the rest of the cities. They asked Caesar for permission to call the general assembly of all Gaul; they had a prayer to make to him in common. This permission granted, they fixed the day of their meeting, and undertook by oath not to reveal anything about it except with the consent of all.
When this assembly was closed, the same citizens who had already presented themselves before Caesar returned to him and asked that they be allowed to speak to him in private, affecting their safety and that of all the Gauls. Having obtained an audience, they threw themselves at his feet, shedding tears, and begged him as earnestly to keep their revelations secret from them as to grant them the object of their request:for if their step were known, they would be exposed. to the last tortures. The Aedui Diviciacos took the floor for them, and said "that two parties divided Gaul. One had the Aedui for leader, the other the Arverni. After a struggle of several years for the pre-eminence, the Arverni, united with the Sequani, attracted the Germans by promising them advantages. Fifteen thousand of the latter first crossed the Rhine; the fertility of the soil, the civilization, the wealth of the Gauls, having charmed these coarse and barbarous men, one of them presented himself. greater number, and there are now one hundred and twenty thousand in Gaul. The Aedui and their allies have fought two battles with them, and have had, besides their defeat, great misfortunes to deplore, the loss of all their nobility, of all their senate, all their cavalry. Exhausted by these combats and by these reverses, this people, whose own courage as well as the support and friendship of the Romans, had previously made so powerful in Gaul, had seen themselves forced to give hostage to the Sequani his most noble cit means, and to bind himself by oath never to claim for his freedom nor for that of the hostages, not to implore the help of the Roman people, not to attempt to escape the perpetual yoke of his conquerors. He is the only one of all his fellow citizens who could not be compelled to take an oath or to give his children hostage. He only fled from his country and came to Rome to ask help from the senate because he was not restrained by either of these two bonds. But the victorious Sequani experienced a more intolerable fate than the defeated Aedui:indeed, Ariovistus, king of the Germans, established himself in their country, seized a third of their territory, which is the best of all Gaul. , and now orders them to abandon another third of it to twenty-four thousand Harudes who, a few months ago, have come to join it, and for whom an establishment must be prepared. It will happen in a few years that all the Gauls will be driven from their country, and that all the Germans will have crossed the Rhine; for the soil of Germany cannot be compared with that of Gaul, any more than the way of life of the two nations. Ariovistus, once victorious over the Gallic army in the battle which was fought at Admagétobrige, commanded as a superb and cruel despot, demanded as hostages the children of all the nobles, and exercised against them all kinds of cruelty, if one does not immediately obey his whims or his will:he is a barbarous man, hot-tempered, ferocious; we can no longer endure his tyranny. If Caesar and the Roman people do not come to their aid, all the Gauls have only one thing left to do:following the example of the Helvetii, they will emigrate from their country, seek other lands and other homes. away from the Germans and will tempt their fortune, whatever fate awaits them. If Ariovistus came to know their revelations, there is no doubt that he would deliver all the hostages in his power to the most terrible tortures. Caesar, by his authority, by his forces, by the luster of his recent victory, and with the name of the Roman people, can prevent a greater number of Germans from crossing the Rhine, to defend the whole of Gaul against violence. of Ariovistus."
Diviciacos ceased to speak, and all who were present, bursting into tears, implored Caesar's help. Noting that the Sequanes alone abstained from doing like the others; that, sad and with lowered heads, they looked at the earth, Caesar is surprised at this dejection and asks them the cause. They do not answer and remain immersed in this silent sadness. He presses them several times without being able to draw any answer from them. Then the Héduen Diviciacos speaks again:"Such is, he says, the fate of the Séquanes, even more unhappy and more intolerable than that of the other Gauls; alone, they dare not complain, even in secret, nor claim help, and the cruelty of absent Ariovistus inspires them with as much terror as if he were in front of them. are in his power, are forced to endure all the torments."
Trial negotiation with Arioviste
Informed of all these facts, Caesar raises in a few words the courage of the Gauls and promises them to watch over them in these circumstances. He has every reason to hope that, out of gratitude and respect for him, Ariovistus will put an end to his violence. After these words, he dismissed the assembly. These complaints and many other motives induced him to deal seriously with this matter. First he saw the Aedui, whom the senate had often called by the title of brothers and allies, enslaved like slaves to the domination of the Germans; he saw them delivering hostages into the hands of Ariovistus and the Sequani, which was disgraceful for himself and for the omnipotence of the Roman people; he also saw the danger there was for the republic in letting the Germans get used to crossing the Rhine and coming in large numbers to Gaul. These coarse and barbarous peoples, once in possession of the whole of Gaul, would no doubt, following the example of the Cimbri and the Teutons, throw themselves on the Roman province and from there on Italy, all the more that Sequania was only separated from our province by the Rhone. Caesar therefore thought that it was necessary to hasten to prevent these dangers. Ariovistus, moreover, had come to a degree of pride and arrogance that it was no longer possible to endure.
He therefore resolved to send deputies to Ariovistus to invite him to appoint some intermediate place for an interview. He wanted to confer with him the interests of the republic and of important affairs for both. Ariovistus replied to this deputation that if he needed Caesar he would go to him; that if Caesar wanted anything from him, he would have to come and find him; that, moreover, he dared not go without an army into that part of Gaul which Caesar possessed, and that an army could not be assembled without great expense and trouble; finally, that it seemed to him astonishing that in Gaul, his property by the right of war and of victory, he should have something to do with Caesar or with the Roman people.
This reply being reported to Caesar, he sent new deputies to Ariovistus, with the following instructions:"Since having been showered with benefits by the Roman people and by Caesar, under whose consulship he had received from the senate the title of king and friend, for all recognition of this favour, he refuses to go to the interview to which he is invited, and that he does not think fit to treat with him of their common interests, here is what he asks him firstly, not to attract again in Gaul this multitude of men coming from beyond the Rhine; secondly, to restore to the Aedui the hostages which he holds from them, and to allow the Sequani to return those whom they have received on their side; to put an end to his violence against the Aedui, and to make war neither on them nor on their allies. If he submits to these demands, he can count on the eternal benevolence and on the friendship of Caesar and the Roman people; if he refuses, awaiting the decree of the senate r Under the consulship of M. Messala and M. Pison, who charges the governor of Gaul to do what is advantageous for the republic, and to defend the Aedui and the other allies of Rome, he will not neglect to avenge their insult."
To this Ariovistus replied that, by the law of war, the victor could dispose of the vanquished as he pleased, and that Rome was accustomed to treat the conquered peoples as it pleased and not as it pleased. that of others; if he does not prescribe to the Romans how they must use their right, they must not hinder him in the exercise of his. The Aedui wanted to tempt the fate of arms and fight; they succumbed and became his tributaries. He himself has a serious complaint against Caesar, whose arrival reduces his income. He will not restore the hostages to the Aedui; he will make war neither on them nor on their allies, if they remain faithful to their conventions and pay the tribute each year; otherwise, the title of brothers of the Roman people will be far from serving them. As for Caesar's declaration "that he would not neglect to avenge the injuries done to the Aedui", no one had yet, without regretting it, attacked Ariovistus; they would measure each other whenever he wanted; Caesar would learn what the valor of the Germans can, an invincible and seasoned nation, which for fourteen years had not rested under a roof.
New complaints against Ariovistus
At the same time that Caesar received this reply, he received deputies from the Aedui and the Treveri. The Aedui complained that the Harudes, newly arrived in Gaul, were devastating their country; they had not been able, even by giving hostages, to buy the peace of Ariovistus. The Treveri, on their side, informed him that a hundred cantons of Suevi were encamped on the banks of the Rhine and were trying to cross that river; they were commanded by two brothers, Nasua and Cimbérios. Caesar, greatly moved by this news, saw that he had not a moment to lose; he feared that if new bands of Suevi joined the old troops of Ariovistus, it would become less easy to resist them. He therefore had provisions collected in all haste, and marched in long marches against Ariovistus.
Caesar precedes him to Besançon
He had been on the march for three days, when it was announced that the latter, with all his forces, was proceeding against Besançon, the strongest place of the Sequanes, and that, for as many days, he had crossed the frontier. Caesar thought it necessary to make every effort to prevent it, for this city was abundantly provided with ammunition of all kinds, and its natural position defended it in such a way as to make it a very advantageous point for sustaining the war. The Doubs river describes a circle around and surrounds it almost entirely; the part that the water does not bathe, and which is not more than six hundred feet, is protected by a high mountain whose base touches on each side the banks of the Doubs. An enclosure of walls makes this mountain a citadel and joins it to the city. Caesar advances with great days, and day and night, makes himself master of it and puts a garrison there.
Roman army panic
During the few days that he spent in Besançon, in order to provide for subsistence and food, the answers given to the questions of our soldiers by the Gauls and the merchants who spoke to them of the gigantic size of the Germans, of their incredible value, from their great habit of war, from their terrible aspect and the fire of their looks which they had hardly been able to sustain in many battles, suddenly threw a lively terror into the whole army; a universal and deep trouble seized the minds. This fear began with the military tribunes, with the prefects and with those who, having followed Caesar out of friendship, had but little experience of war; some, alleging various necessities, asked him to allow them to depart; others, restrained by shame, remained only so as not to incur the reproach of cowardice; they could neither compose their faces nor hold back the tears that sometimes escaped. Hidden in their tents, they complained about their fate or lamented with their friends the common danger. In the whole camp everyone made his will. These complaints and this terror gradually shook those who had grown old in the camps, the soldiers, the centurions, the commanders of the cavalry. Those who wanted to pass for the least frightened said that it was not the enemy they feared, but the difficulty of the roads, the depth of the forests which separated them from Ariovistus, and the difficulties of transporting provisions. It was even reported to Caesar that when he gave orders to break camp and carry the ensigns forward, the frightened soldiers would remain deaf to his voice and leave the ensigns motionless.
Caesar's speech
Having reflected on these reports, he convenes an assembly, summons the centurions of all ranks and reproaches them strongly and first of all, for wanting to find out about the country where he is leading them and to judge his designs. During his consulship, Ariovistus sought with the greatest eagerness the friendship of the Roman people. Why should he be supposed to be so rash as to stray from his duty? As for him, he is convinced that, as soon as Ariovistus knows his demands, and that he will have appreciated their fairness, he will not want to renounce either his good graces or those of the Romans. If, driven by furious madness, he decides on war, what is there to fear? and why despair of their courage and activity? The peril with which this enemy threatened them their fathers had braved, when, under C. Marius, the army, repelling the Cimbri and the Teutons, acquired as much glory as the general himself; they themselves had defied it very recently in Italy, in the slave war; and this enemy had, however, the help of the experience and discipline which he inherited from the Romans. One could judge by this of the advantages of firmness, since those whom one had, without cause, feared for some time, although they were unarmed, one had then submitted them armed and victorious; finally, this people was the same people whom the Helvetii had often fought, and whom they had almost as often conquered, not only in their country, but in their own, and the Helvetii had not, however, been able to resist the Roman forces. That if there are those who are frightened by the defeat and the flight of the Gauls, those will be able to convince themselves, if they seek the causes, that the Gauls were tired of the length of the war; that Ariovistus, after having stood several months in his camp and in his marshes, without accepting battle, had suddenly attacked them, already despairing of fighting and dispersed, and had conquered them rather by skill and skill than by courage. If such means may have been good against barbarians and inexperienced enemies, he doubtless did not hope to employ them with the same success against Roman armies. Those who hide their fears under the pretext of subsistence and the difficulty of the roads are very arrogant to believe that the general could fail in his duty, or to prescribe it to him. This care belongs to him; the wheat will be furnished by the Sequanes, the Leuques, the Lingones; already it is ripe even in the countryside. As for the path, they will judge for themselves in a short time. The soldiers, it is said, will not obey his orders and will not raise the standards; these threats do not worry him; for he knows that an army only shows rebellion at the voice of its leader when, through his fault, fortune has failed him, or when he is convicted of some crime, such as cupidity. His whole life proves his integrity, and the Helvetian war the happiness of his arms. So the departure, which he wanted to put off until a later day, he brings forward; and the following night, on the fourth watch, he will break camp, in order to know first of all what prevails over them, or honor and duty, or fear. If, however, no one follows him, he will leave with the tenth legion alone, of which he has no doubt, and it will be his praetorian cohort. Caesar had always particularly favored this legion and relied entirely on its valor.
The troops, reassured, march against Ariovistus
This harangue, producing an extraordinary change in all minds, aroused the liveliest ardor and the desire to fight. (2) The tenth legion, through the organ of the military tribunes, immediately thanked Caesar for having presumed so well of them, and declared that they were ready to march to battle. Then the other legions deputed to him their tribunes and the centurions of the first ranks, to address their excuses to him; they had never hesitated, nor trembled, nor pretended to pass on the war a judgment which belongs only to the general. Caesar received their apologies, and after inquiring about the way to take from Diviciacos, that of the Gauls in whom he had the most confidence, he resolved to make a detour of fifty miles, in order to lead his army through a country opened, and departed on the fourth watch as he had said. On the seventh day he was still marching when he learned from his scouts that Ariovistus' troops were twenty thousand paces from ours.
Interview between Caesar and Ariovistus
Informed of Caesar's arrival, Ariovistus sends deputies to him. Caesar did not reject his proposal. He believed that Ariovistus had returned to sounder ideas, since this conference which he had at first refused him, he was offering it of his own accord. He hoped that, as soon as he knew his demands, the memory of the signal benefits of Caesar and of the Roman people would triumph over his obstinacy. The interview was fixed for the fifth day from that. During this interval, frequent messages were sent on both sides; Ariovistus demanded that Caesar bring no infantry; he feared ambushes and a surprise; both would be accompanied by cavalry; if it were otherwise, he would not come. Caesar, not wishing the conference to fail on any pretext, and not daring to commit his safety to the Gallic cavalry, found a more convenient expedient; he took all their horses from the Gallic horsemen, and had them ridden by soldiers of the tenth legion, which had his full confidence, in order to have, if need be, a devoted guard. This made one of the soldiers of this legion say rather pleasantly "That Caesar favored them beyond his promises, since having promised the soldiers of the tenth legion to make them his praetorian cohort, he made them knights." P>
In a wide plain was a fairly high mound, at about equal distance from the two camps. It was there that, according to convention, the interview took place. Caesar placed two hundred paces from this mound the legion which he had brought on the horses of the Gauls. Arioviste's cavalry halted at the same distance; the latter asked that they should converse on horseback, and that ten men should be their only escort at this conference. When they were present, Caesar began his speech by reminding him of his benefits and those of the senate:"He had received from the senate the name of king, the title of friend; they had sent him the greatest presents, a favor granted to few foreigners, and which was usually only the reward for eminent services. Caesar and of the senate. He also reminded him of the links, as ancient as they were legitimate, which united the Aedui to the republic, the numerous and honorable senatus-consultancies rendered in their favour, the supremacy which they had always enjoyed in all of Gaul, before even to seek our friendship, the custom of the Roman people being to desire that their allies and their friends not only lose nothing of their power, but also gain in credit, in dignity, in honor. brought into the covenant e Roman was taken from them?" He ended by reiterating to him the requests already made by his deputies, that he should not make war either on the Aedui or on their allies; that he should return the hostages; and if he could not send home any part of the Germans, let him at least not allow others to cross the Rhine.
Ariovistus replied little to Caesar's demands, and spoke much of his own merit. "He had not crossed the Rhine on his own initiative, but at the prayer and solicitation of the Gauls; he would not have left his country and his relatives without the certainty of a rich reward. The establishments he possessed in Gaul had been conceded to him by the Gauls themselves; they had voluntarily given hostages; he raised by the law of war the contributions which the victors customarily impose on the vanquished; the Gauls had begun hostilities well far from it being he; the peoples of Gaul had come to attack him en masse and set up their camp opposite his; he had, in a single combat, defeated and dispersed all these forces; if they want to attempt the takes out his arms, he is ready to fight again; if they prefer peace, it is unjust to deny him the tribute they had hitherto paid of their own free will; the friendship of the Roman people was to bring him honor and profit and not turn to its detriment; it had sought her out in this hope. If Rome intervenes to take away his subsidies and his tributaries, he will renounce his friendship with as much eagerness as he had desired. If he sent a large number of Germans into Gaul, it was for his own safety and not to attack the Gauls; the proof is that he only came because he had been called; that far from being the aggressor, he had only defended himself. He had entered Gaul before the Romans; never, before this time, had a Roman army exceeded the limits of the province. What did we want from him? Why did people come to his land? This part of Gaul was his province, as that was ours. Just as he was not allowed to invade our frontiers, so too it was an iniquity on our part to challenge him in the exercise of his right. As for the title of brothers which the senate had given to the Aedui, it was not sufficiently barbarous, nor sufficiently misinformed of what had happened, to be unaware that in the last war of the Allobroges, the Aedui had not sent aid to the Romans, and that they had received none from them in their disputes with him and the Sequani. He had reason to suspect that, under the semblance of friendship, Caesar intended to ruin the army he had in Gaul. If he did not move away and did not withdraw his troops, he would consider him not as a friend but as an enemy. By putting him to death, he would fulfill the wishes of many nobles and principals of Rome; he knew it from their own messengers; and his death would earn him their gratitude and their friendship. If he retired and left him free possession of Gaul, he would reward him amply, and would wage all the wars that Caesar would like to undertake, without fatigue or danger on his part."
Caesar proved by many reasons that he could not withdraw from his design. "It was neither in his habit nor in that of the Roman people to abandon allies who had deserved well of the republic, and he did not think that Gaul belonged rather to Ariovistus than to the Romans. Q. Fabius Maximus had conquered the Arverni and the Ruteni, and Rome, forgiving them, had not reduced them to a province, and had imposed no tribute on them. a just title to the empire of Gaul; if it were necessary to abide by the decree of the senate, it must be free, since he had wanted that, defeated, it should retain its laws."
During this colloquy, Caesar was informed that Ariovistus' horsemen were approaching the mound and advancing towards ours, at which they were already throwing stones and darts. Caesar ended the interview, retired towards his people and forbade them to return a single dart to the enemies. For, although he judged he could with the cavalry of his elite legion sustain the fight without danger, he did not wish, however, to give the enemies he had to repel cause to say that they had been surprised by favor of a treacherous conference. When the arrogance of Ariovistus' words were known in the camp, his forbidding the Romans to enter Gaul, the sudden attack of his horsemen against ours, which had broken off the interview, the army felt it. a keener impatience and desire to fight.
Ariovist’s trickery
Two days later, Ariovistus sent word to Caesar that he wished to resume the negotiations begun and remained unfinished, asking him to fix a day for a new interview, or at least to send him one of his lieutenants. Caesar did not think fit to accept this interview, especially since the day before we had not been able to prevent the Germans from firing arrows at our troops. He also felt that it was very dangerous to send one of his lieutenants and expose him to the cruelty of these barbarians. He thought it more suitable to depute to Ariovistus C. Valerius Procillus, a young man full of courage and merit, whose father, C. Valerius Caburus, had been made a Roman citizen by C. Valerius Flaccus. His fidelity was known and he knew the Gallic language, which long practice had made familiar to Ariovistus, and the Germans had no reason to mistreat him. Caesar added M. Metius, who had been Ariovistus' guest. He instructed them to take cognizance of the latter's proposals and to report them to him. When Ariovistus saw them coming to him in his camp, he cried out in the presence of his soldiers:"What are you doing here? Is it to spy?" And, without giving them time to explain themselves, he threw them in irons.
Battle foreplay
The same day he broke camp, and took up a position at the foot of a mountain, six thousand paces from that of Caesar. The next day, he marched his troops in sight of the Roman army and encamped two thousand paces away, with a view to intercepting the grain and provisions sent by the Sequani and the Aedui. During the next five days, Caesar advanced his troops at the head of the camp, and ranged them in line, to leave Ariovistus free to engage in combat. Ariovistus, during all this time, kept his army in his camp, and every day skirmished with cavalry. The Germans were particularly trained in this kind of combat. (5) They had a corps of six thousand cavalry and an equal number of most agile and courageous infantry; each horseman had chosen his over the whole army to entrust his safety to him; they fought together. The cavalry fell back on them; these, in difficult moments, came to his aid; if a rider, seriously wounded, fell from his horse, they surrounded him; whether it was necessary to go forward or make a hasty retreat, the exercise had made them so agile that by holding on to the manes of the horses, they equaled them at the race.
Seeing that Ariovistus remained shut up in his camp, Caesar, in order not to be separated any longer from the provisions, chose an advantageous position about six hundred paces beyond that which the Germans occupied, and having formed his army on three lines, he came to occupy this position. He had the first and the second held under arms and the third worked in the intrenchments. This place was, as we have said, about six hundred paces from the enemy. Ariovistus detached sixteen thousand men of light troops with all his cavalry to frighten our soldiers and interrupt the work Nevertheless, Caesar, as he had stopped him in advance, ordered the first two lines to repel the attack, to to continue the entrenchment. The camp once fortified, Caesar left two legions and part of the auxiliaries there, and brought the other four back to the main camp.
Le lendemain, selon son usage, il fit sortir ses troupes des deux camps, et, s’étant avancé à quelque distance du grand, il les mit en bataille et présenta le combat aux ennemis. (2) Voyant qu’ils ne faisaient aucun mouvement, il fit rentrer l’armée vers le milieu du jour. Alors seulement Arioviste détacha une grande partie de ses forces pour l’attaque du petit camp. Un combat opiniâtre se prolongea jusqu’au soir. Au coucher du soleil, Arioviste retira ses troupes; il y eut beaucoup de blessés de part et d’autre. Comme César s’enquérait des prisonniers pourquoi Arioviste refusait de combattre, il apprit que c’était la coutume chez les Germains de faire décider par les femmes, d’après les sorts et les règles de la divination, s’il fallait ou non livrer bataille, et qu’elles avaient déclaré toute victoire impossible pour eux, s’ils combattaient avant la nouvelle lune.
Défaite des Germains
Le jour suivant, César laissa dans les deux camps une garde qui lui parut suffisante, et plaça en présence des ennemis toutes les troupes auxiliaires, en avant du petit. Comme le nombre des légionnaires était inférieur à celui des Germains, les alliés lui servirent à étendre son front. Il rangea l’armée sur trois lignes et s’avança contre le camp ennemi. Alors, les Germains, forcés enfin de combattre, sortirent de leur camp et se placèrent, par ordre de nations à des intervalles égaux, Harudes, Marcomans, Triboques, Vangions, Némètes, Sédusiens, Suèves; ils formèrent autour de leur armée une enceinte d’équipages et de chariots, afin de s’interdire tout espoir de fuite. Placées sur ces bagages, les femmes tendaient les bras aux soldats qui marchaient au combat, et les conjuraient en pleurant de ne les point livrer en esclavage aux Romains.
César mit à la tête de chaque légion un de ses lieutenants et un questeur, pour que chacun eût en eux des témoins de sa valeur. Il engagea le combat par son aile droite, du côté où il avait remarqué que l’ennemi était le plus faible. Au signal donné, les soldats se précipitèrent avec une telle impétuosité et l’ennemi accourut si vite qu’on n’eut pas le temps de lancer les javelots; on ne s’en servit point, et l’on combattit de près avec le glaive. Mais les Germains, ayant promptement formé leur phalange accoutumée, soutinrent le choc de nos armes. On vit alors plusieurs de nos soldats s’élancer sur cette phalange, arracher avec la main les boucliers de l’ennemi, et le blesser en le frappant d’en haut. Tandis que l’aile gauche des Germains était rompue et mise en déroute, à l’aile droite les masses ennemies nous pressaient vivement. Le jeune P. Crassus, qui commandait la cavalerie, s’en aperçut, et plus libre que ceux qui étaient engagés dans la mêlée, il envoya la troisième ligne au secours de nos légions ébranlées.
Le combat fut ainsi rétabli; tous les ennemis prirent la fuite, et ne s’arrêtèrent qu’après être parvenus au Rhin à cinquante mille pas environ du champ de bataille; quelques-uns, se fiant à leurs forces, essayèrent de le passer à la nage, d’autres se sauvèrent sur des barques; de ce nombre fut Arioviste qui, trouvant une nacelle attachée au rivage, s’échappa ainsi. Tous les autres furent taillés en pièces par notre cavalerie qui s’était mise à leur poursuite. Arioviste avait deux femmes, la première, Suève de nation, qu’il avait amenée avec lui de sa patrie; la seconde, native du Norique, soeur du roi Voccion, et qu’il avait épousée dans la Gaule, quand son frère la lui eut envoyée; toutes deux périrent dans la déroute. De leurs filles, l’une fut tuée et l’autre prise. C. Valérius Procillus était entraîné, chargé d’une triple chaîne, par ses gardiens fugitifs. Il fut retrouvé par César lui-même qui poursuivait l’ennemi, à la tête de la cavalerie. Cette rencontre ne lui causa pas moins de plaisir que la victoire même; l’homme le plus considéré de la province, son ami et son hôte, était arraché des mains des ennemis et lui était rendu; la fortune n’avait pas voulu troubler par une telle perte sa joie et son triomphe. Procillus lui dit qu’il avait vu trois fois consulter le sort pour savoir s’il serait immédiatement brûlé ou si on renverrait son supplice à un autre temps; et que le sort favorable l’avait sauvé. M. Métius fut aussi rejoint et ramené à César.
Quartiers d’hiver
Le bruit de cette victoire étant parvenu au-delà du Rhin, les Suèves, qui étaient déjà arrivés sur les bords de ce fleuve, regagnèrent leur pays. Les habitants de la rive, les voyant épouvantés, les poursuivirent et en tuèrent un grand nombre. César, après avoir ainsi terminé deux grandes guerres en une seule campagne, conduisit l’armée en quartier d’hiver chez les Séquanes, un peu plus tôt que la saison ne l’exigeait. Il en confia le commandement à Labiénus et partit pour aller tenir les assemblées dans la Gaule citérieure