Battles That Julius Caesar Fought in Gallic Region - Essay Example

The wars in Gaul comprise a series of ferocious campaigns involving serious battle by Julius Caesar. The battles were fundamentally against several Gallic tribes and sub-tribes. This lasted from 58 BC to about 51 BC. Battles against Helvetti, Belgae, Ariovistus, and Vercingetorix are the most remarkable ones. This paper offers a reflection into the battles that Julius Caesar fought in this region and the way he went about them. Introduction Caesar reports that there was a mighty shake-up as the Carnutes declared war. They were so determined to take an oath that it was their solemn duty to have them go to war for the sake of the general safety. So, they pooled their military prowess together to avoid being alienated by the rest of the Gauls and then started the war without taking the necessary arrangements to receive or to give hostages. This war was actually pre-appointed. The initial aggression was that Cotuatus and Conetodunus, two desperate men, met at Genabum and had a conspiracy to slay all the Roman citizens who were traders at Genabum. Under the commandeering word of these two, many Romans were killed; amongst them was a distinguished Roman knight, Caius Fusius Cita. This same one was in charge of the provision department under Caesar’s orders. News of this unprecedented massacre met every ear like wild fire throughout all the states of Gaul, for the mode of transmission of this message was shouting and the others taking up in succession, passing the message across to their neighbors. The attack, which occurred in Genabum at sunrise also spread with equal speed throughout all districts of Gaul, covering an extent of a whole one hundred and sixty miles within the first hour, expressing the way the indomitable Romans were butchered and how their property was gravely plundered. Caesar further notes that having aimed at making himself sovereign,Vercingetorix, the son of Celtillus, an Arvernia, was put to death by his own men. His uncle Gobanitio and other luminaries had been expelled from Gergovia, a town where they had put up together. Before he could go, Vercingetorix called all men together and incited them to fight up the Romans. This is how the war started. Vercingetorix did not hold himself. Instead, he imposed a levy to fend for the needy and desperate. He was not badly off himself; he had a large army, which he seduced to take up arms to fight for what he termed as the general freedom. He became victorious and in effect deployed ambassadors in every small avenue and sent emissaries in every direction . He took hostage of Senones, Aulerci, Pictones, Turones, Cadurci, Parisii, and Lemovice who were the Roman men of valor. He also took up all those who bordered the ocean. The Romans pursued Vercingetorix’s men and attacked them by night. There was a major massacre because Caesar’s men were thoroughly organized. The women knew how weak and physically inefficient their men were and they therefore entreated them to retreat, persuading them to have mercy upon the vulnerable parties; the weak, the aged, women and children. The Gauls being intimidated by fear ran away and could not proceed. However, Caesar advanced with the war. He observed how the enemy had feebly guarded the walls and took advantage of that and gave an order that his armed men take charge. He drew them up in secret hide outs but within the vineae where he spelled out to them his grand plan and his mission for this war; to reap. It was to be a victor’s harvest; a great conquest, one in proportion to their effort (Caesar, p121). Caesar proposed a prize for those who would take lead in bringing down the walls and blew the trumpet as the starting signal to the army, who suddenly ran out from all directions and besieged the walls. The enemy was alarmed beyond measure by the suddenness of this attack. Vercingetorix’s men were sloughed off the walls and the towers in the market places and in all major streets. They gave in after seeing no victory on their side, putting away their arms and scampering away for safety even to the remotest parts of the town. Many were killed in the stampede. The Romans already had the Genabum and the baltic experiences, where they had executed terrible massacres. Here, they did not spare the old, the women or the children and out of close to forty thousand people, only about eight hundred fled from town when the first alarm went into the air, safely reaching Vercingetorix who received them in utter silence. The rest were grounded and massacred to the victory of Caesar (Caesar, p132). Gat observes that Caesars early intrusion in Gaul had been to stop the Helvetii migrating from the modern Switzerland to some parts of France. The battle at Bibracte is major in the annuls of the Roman history. This happened in 58 B.C. when he defeated the Helvetii. Caesars initial invasion of Gaul was based on a pretext that Orgetorix, the Helvetti aristocrat, had initiated it. Orgetorixs desire for kingship over his people motivated him. The Helvetti knew how Caesar had defeated and drove away the Germans across the Rhine. They knew that Ariovistus was not the only one in the Roman war records whom the Romans had subdued. They had to return to homeland.  Julius Caesar fought against Ariovistus in the Battle of Vosges as chronicled in Gallic Wars Commentaries. Of the battles that Caesar and his men fought, it was one of the most notable. King Ariovistus led the German (Suebi) to fight against Caesar. The Romans won this battle, which was a succession of the victory at Bibracte. Julius Caesar had grabbed victory here in the spring of 58 BC. Caesar and his co-authors report that the victory of the Romans had spread like bush fire and the Gallic leaders were now seeking Caesar to protect them against the Germans (Suebi) led by King Ariovistus. Indeed, Ariovistus had already brought on board 120,000 army men in addition to taking hostages. Caesar agreed to their request and planned to have a meeting with Ariovistus, who refused his request to speak to him, claiming that the Romans were only interfering with the affairs that did not concern them. Caesar moved in with speed to demand that Ariovistus return the hostages taken from Aedui and never to bring Germans into Gaul. Ariovistus considered these empty threats for he had the same military history and prowess as Caesar. Nevertheless, as Caesar and his co-authors further observe, Ariovistus restrained from casting weapons at Caesar’s men. Caesar thought it could be prudent to send the son of C. Valerius Caburus as an ambassador. This was a young man of immense courage and achievement in terms of faithfulness and knowledge of the Gallic language. Ariovistus also spoke the same language competently. He considered C. Valerius Procillus and M. Mettius spies, captured and put them behind bars. Very angry, later in the day, he moved his camp further forward and put it under a hill, six miles from the camp that Caesar had erected. The next day, he led his forces past the enemy’s camp, putting his only two miles beyond Caesars, aiming to cut off Caesar from accessing the corn and other provisions from the Sequani and the Aedui. Ariovistus attacked Caesar with a huge number of German men who crossed the Rhine lands into Gaul. Caesar also set out with his army and raced his troops to Vesontio, blocking the food supplies to the Germans. Ariovistus, who was 24 miles away, agreed to talk after realizing this setback. Their meeting did not bear fruit because as soon as it was scheduled, a fight ensued among their men. Another meeting that was later arranged could not take place either, because the two envoys that Caesar sent to Ariovistus were arrested (Gat, p37). Caesar and his co-authors note that this was enough reason for Caesar to draw out his troops before the camp, which he did in five days and engaged them in a serious gear for battle. All the while, Ariovistus held his army in camp. He was only cunning to engage in cavalry skirmishes on a daily basis. The Germans had indeed prepared for this war. There were 6,000 horses at the ready and too many very virile men on foot, one again for every horse. They were constantly accompanied by the foot men in their engagements; to these, the horse retired. They, on any emergency, rushed forward. If upon receiving a very severe wound anyone had fallen from his horse, they stood around him or to retreat more rapidly, they kept pace of their speed, having the swiftness of the horses. Caesar, erecting a camp only 600 paces away from Ariovistus men, drew up his army in three lines and marched towards the Germans. In retaliation, Ariovistus prepared about 16000 men with their armory. He knew the number could intimidate Caesars men. However, Caesar was articulate; he lined only two lines of the army to drive away the enemy and a third one to do the execution. The following day, Caesar gave the enemy an opportunity to fight. He led out his forces from both camps and drew them up in line to start fighting. Ariovistus considered the two camps and decided to fight the lesser one. That day ended without many war casualties. However, the wounds had been inflicted and Ariovistus retreated back into his camp. Traditionally, the Germans depended upon the divinations of their matrons as to whether it was the design of heaven to fight this war. Caesar and his co-authors record that the following day, Ariovistus let his troops out of the camp, troop by troop, and started the fight. Caesar, noting their naivety, drew out the legions and appointed a questor and a lieutenant to each. He was engaged in serious battle at the front of one of the wings. He had drawn up his troops in three lines while advancing to the enemys camp. As the Germans started fighting, little did Ariovistus know that he was handing his men for slavery into the hands of the Romans. Caesars men were attacked so suddenly and so inadvertently that the enemy had no time to use their spears on them. They resorted to using their swords and knives for they were so much at close-range to the Romans. However, even in the use of the swords, Ariovistus men did not have the expertise to match the fighting prowess of the wounded Romans. Despite the fact that the Germans were so great in number, they were routed on the left flank and as the fight intensified, the Romans did not look like retreating and fleeing. Instead, the Romans pushed Ariovistus men to the river Rhine – this was about fifty miles from the battle ground. They pushed them into the water, upon which some resorted to swim, while others, on finding boats, escaped for safety. Ariovistus was one of them. Conclusion  Gaul is the modern France. Julius Caesar as noted above really helped the people of the Gallic region to fight against the incessantly fighting Germans. The German invaders were becoming a menace. Of course they did not sense that the Romans had their vested interest in their readiness and always near willingness to assist them. Some Gallic tribes became Roman colonies. The Galls came to realize only too late that the Roman aid was indeed too costly. Works cited Caesar, J. (2010). Commentaries on the Gallic War. Raleigh: Hayes Barton Press. Caesar, J. et al, (2009). Caesars commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars. South Carolina: BiblioLife. Gat, A. (2010). War in human Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Read More