Book I Section II: Ariovistus and the Germans
Conflict:
The German tribe, led by King Ariovistus, had crossed the Rhine River and was reeking havoc in Gaul. The Sequani, a Gallic tribe, had invited the Germans over in the first place so they could fight/extinguish the Aeduan tribe. Once the Germans decided they wanted to stay though, the Gauls came running to Caesar for his help.
Characters:
- Caesar — commander of the legions and Roman governor of Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul
- Ariovistus — King of the Germans and conqueror of the Aeduan, Sequani and Arverni Gallic tribes. He was a bold guy who loved fighting and defying the Romans.
- Divitiacus — former ruler of the Aedui tribe and personal friend to Caesar. He called for Caesar’s help when the Helvetii Germans were rampaging throughout their lands and somewhat sparked the entire Gallic German War.
- P. Crassus — son of Crassus senior who was in the First Triumvirate with Caesar. P. Crassus commanded the cavalry brigade and saw that the Roman left line was in trouble during the battle with Ariovistus. He “saved the day” but was probably only mentioned as a favor to Crassus senior.
Quotes:
“The whole line rested on a huge semicircle of wagons and carts which had been dragged into position so as to preclude all thought of flight, and were now filled with masses of wildly excited women, who, as their fighting men moved out to battle, waved their arms in passionate entreaty that they might saved from Roman slavery.” (page 38)
“He {Ariovistus} was well aware that, at the price of Caesar’s head, he could purchase the interest and friendship of the entire oligarchical party.” (page 34)
“…not better example of the value of cool self-possession in the hour of danger could be imagined.” (page 29)
Words:
- internecine — destructive to both sides in a conflict.
- suzerainty - a relationship in which one state or other polity controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy.
- commissariat — [military] a department for the supply of food and equipment.
- laager — a camp or encampment formed by a circle of wagons.
Summary:
The theatre open up with a “Diet” or a counsel of Gallic chieftains presenting their issue to Caesar, who had just conquered the Helvetians. A pressing threat was swelling in Northern Gaul: the presence of German tribes and their savage leader, Ariovistus. The Germans were actually paid mercenaries of the Sequani tribe, who had hired them to fight in their wars against the Aedui tribe. The Aeduans were defeated by the Germans, their entire noble class was wiped out and their sons and daughters were taken as hostages. The former leader of the Aeduans and friend to Caesar, Divitiacus, appealed to Caesar and asked for his help in crushing the Germans. Divitiacus insinuated there would be more mass Gallic migrations like the Helvetii since the Germans would overrun their whole country.
Caesar, obviously, decided this was a threat to national security and sent a few envoys to Ariovistus inviting him to a conference for “negotiations”…but you can’t just order a powerful German king to relinquish bucket loads of wealth and prestige. Plus, Ariovistus had technically been invited to Gaul by the Sequani and was due payment (i.e. lands, hostages) for his military aid. Ariovistus flat out refused Caesar’s demands and sent some uppity responses.
“I must, however, be allowed to express my wonder at what business either Caesar or the Roman Government can possibly have in my part of Gaul, which I hold by the right of the sword.”
Ariovistus was appealing to the universal rules of conquering in the ancient world: if you defeated a people squarely in battle, they were yours to do whatever you wished with…exact tribute, steal hostages, or slaughter mercilessly were fair game. Ariovistus scoffed at his lofty title of “Brothers to the Roman People” and openly challenged Caesar to battle.
Caesar wasn’t one to accept these slights graciously. Upon hearing the Suebi tribe was marching to hook up with Ariovistus and that the Germans were making camp in Vesontio (a well-stocked Gallic town), Caesar and his forces started marching North.
While marching towards Vesontio, desperation gripped Caesar’s soldiers as they heard about the savagery and fearlessness of the German warriors. Young officers started finding mysterious reasons to return to Rome, soldiers were wailing and signing wills left and right — even the hardened fighters were getting despondent. Caesar, using his cool self mastery and oration skills, whipped the legions into shape and made them work doubly harder for him.
“The {Caesar’s} speech produced an extraordinary revulsion of feeing, and in all ranks alike there was now an eager desire to proceed to the front.”
The officers and soldiers even publicly apologized to Caesar and committed themselves fully to him.
Once Ariovistus heard the Romans were tailing him, he then decided an in-person conference with Caesar could fit in his schedule. The two met halfway in an open plain — their ranks of cavalry flanking them — and Caesar opened up the discussion with formal reminders of how awesome Rome was. (i.e. “We recognized your title of King!” “The Republic gave you lots of shiny gifts and you didn’t really do anything to deserve them!”) Caesar then used the Aedui tribe as his defense, saying he couldn’t let such a good pal to the Roman people be despoiled and taken hostage.
In a somewhat surprising passage, Caesar recounted Ariovistus’ supposed reply in full. Ariovistus basically roasted Caesar and Rome, saying his title of “Brother to the Roman people” meant nothing to him. Again, he was only in Gaul because he was invited and was bringing more kin across the Rhine to secure his position. In fact, it was the Romans who were encroaching on his territory and provoking war. He also saw right through the claim about protecting the Aedui honor:
“…under the veil of pretended friendship, Caesar’s presence in the country did but conceal a fixed intention to compass his destruction.”
While Caesar was spinning his wheels at Ariovistus, the German cavalry was secretly attacking the Roman cavalry that Caesar brought as his bodyguards. Caesar and his men retreated back to the Roman camp, fuming.
And because why not, Ariovistus asked for a second meeting, saying the first one “got off on the wrong foot”. Caesar wasn’t down for Ambush Part Two™️, so he sent a Gallic nobleman and Roman officer to the German camp — where they were promptly imprisoned. All the while, Ariovistus was moving his army closer to Caesar’s and engaging in small daily skirmishes.
At this point, Caesar breaks in the storyline to describe how the German cavalry fights. Almost like medieval knights and their squires, the Germans combined a horseman with a skilled infantryman that hung onto the horse’s mane and protected the rider.
Anyway, Caesar entrenched a second camp nearer to the German laager and eventually, the fiery Germans took the bate and attacked the smaller camp. An all out battle ensued during the night and the Romans and Germans fought and slaughtered for hours. The German women were waving passionately and crying out to their men from behind the wagons. The Romans were jumping on top of German shields and ripping them from their marble hands. The Roman left line was wavering until P. Crassus (conspicuously mentioned) saved the day. Eventually, the Romans beat back the Germans to the Rhine and Ariovistus escaped across the river (his two wives, however, perished). Caesar crushed the Germans and the Gallic tribes who had fought with him, further establishing his hegemony over Gaul.
Macc Reacc:
Caesar somewhat reminds me of Mark Zuckerberg. They both possess a cool, distanced way of thinking that serves as a guise for plans of total domination and destruction. Caesar will find literally any pretext for war in Gaul and dismisses Ariovistus’ arguments as invalid. I’m more inclined to be on the German side though — Ariovistus was invited to Gaul by the in-fighting tribes and should’ve been allowed to dispense with the vanquished as he wished (which is exactly what the Romans would have done).
I loved the description of the German cavalry and their squires; it adds some humanity to these “barbarians” and hints at admiration from Caesar. While Caesar only writes about the bravery and savagery of the Germans to make his own defeat of them more impressive, these details about an exterminated ancient race are precious.
