Obseruations vpon the fiue first bookes of Cæsars commentaries setting fourth the practise of the art military in the time of the Roman Empire : wherein are handled all the chiefest point of their discipline, with the true reason of euery part, together with such instructions as may be drawn from their proceedings, for the better direction of our moderne warres / by Clement Edmunds.

CHAP. XII.

The Aduatici betake themselues to a strong hold, and are taken by Caesar.

THE * Aduatici before mentioned,* 1.1 comming with all their power to aide the Neruij, and vnderstanding by the way of their ouerthrow, returned home againe; and forsaking all the rest of their townes, and castles, conuaied themselues and their wealth into one strong and wel fortified town, which was com∣passed about with mighty rocks and stiepe downefals, sauing in one place of 200. foot in breadth, where there was an entry by a gentle and easie ascent, which passage they had fortified with a double wal of a large

altitude, and had placed mightie great stones and sharpe beames vpon the walles rea∣die for an assault. This people descended from the Cimbri and Teutoni, who in their iourney into Italy had left such cariages on this side of the Rhene, as they coulde not conueniently take along with them, in the custodie of these forces; who after the death of their fellowes, being many yeares disquieted by their neighbours, somtimes inuading other states, and sometimes defending themselues, at length procured a peace, and chose this place to settle themselues in. At the first comming of the Ro∣maine army, they sallied out of the towne, & made many light skirmishes with them: but after that Caesar had drawne a rampier about the towne of 12 foot in height, 15 miles in compasse, and had fortified it with castles very thicke about the towne; they kept themselues within the wall: And as they beheld the vines framed, the mount raised, and a towre in building a far off; at first they began to laugh at it, and with scoffing speeches frō the wal, began to aske: with what hands, & with what strength, especially by men of that stature (for the Romaines were but little men in respect of the Galles) a towre of that huge massie waight should bee brought vnto the walles? But when they saw it remoued, and approching neere vnto the towne, as men astoni∣shed at the strange and vnaccustomed sight thereof, they sent ambassadors to Caesar, to intreat a peace with this message: They beleeued that the Romaines did not make war, without the special assistance of the gods, that could with such facility transport engines of that height, & bring them to incounter at hand, against the strongest part of their town: and therfore they submitted both themselues, and all that they had, to Caesars mercy; desiring one thing of his meere clemency, that he would not take away their armes, forasmuch as al their neighbors were enemies vnto them, and enuied at their valour; neither were they able to defend themselues, if they shoulde deliuer vp their armor: so that they had rather suffer any inconuenience by the people of Rome, then to be butcherly murthered by them, whom in former time they had held subiect to their command.

To this Caesar answered, that hee would saue the city rather of his owne custome, thē for any desert of theirs; so that they yeelded before the Ram touched the wal: but no condition of remedy should be accepted, without present deliuery of their armes; for he would do by thē as he had done by the Neruij, and giue cōmandement to their neighbours, that they should offer no wrong to such, as had commended their safety to the people of Rome. This answere being returned to the city, they seemed contented to doe whatsoeuer hee commanded them, and thereupon casting a great part of their armour ouer the wall into the ditch, insomuch as they fild it almost to the top of the rampier: and yet (as afterward was known) concealing the third part, they set open the gates, and for that daie caried themselues peaceably. Towards night Caesar com∣manded the gates to be shut, and the soldiours to be drawn out of the towne. But the Aduatici hauing consulted together before, forasmuch as they beleeued that vpon their submission, the Romaines woulde either set no watch at all, or at the least, keepe it verie careleslie; partlie with such armour as they had retained, and partly with Targets, made of barke or wrought of wicker, which vppon the sodaine they had couered ouer with leather, about the third watch where the ascent to our for∣tifications was easiest; they issued sodainly out of the towne with al their power: but signification thereof being giuen by fiers, as Caesar had commanded, the Romains ha∣sted speedilie to that place. The enemy fought very desperatelie, as men in the last hope of their welfare, incountering the Romains in a place of disaduantage, at length with the slaughter of 4000. the rest were driuen backe into the towne. The

next daie when Caesar came to breake open the gates, and found no man at defence, he sent in the soldiors, and sold al the people and spoile of the towne: the number of per∣sons in the towne amounted to 53000. bondslaues.

THE FIRST OBSERVATION.

IN the surprise,* 1.2 attempted by the Belgae vpon Bibract, I set downe the maner, which both the Galles and the Romaines vsed in their sodaine surprising of a towne: whereof if they failed (the place importing any aduantage in the course of the war) they then prepared for the siege, in that ma∣ner, as Caesar hath described in this place. They inuironed the town about with a ditch and a rampier, and fortified the saide rampier, with many castles and fortresses, erected in a conuenient distance one from another; and so they kept the town from any forraine succor or reliefe: and withal secured themselues frō sallies or other stratagerns, which the townsmen might practise against them. And this manner of siege was called circumuallatio; the particular description wherof,* 1.3 I refer vnto the history of Alesia, where I will handle it, according to the particulars there set down by Caesar.

THE SECOND OBSERVATION.

THe Ram,* 1.4 which Caesar heere mentioneth, was of greatest note a∣mongst all the Romaine Engines, and helde that place which the Canon hath in our warres. Vitruuius doth attribute the inuention thereof, to the Carthagimans, who at the taking of Cadiz, wanting a fit instrument to raze and ouerthrow a castle,* 1.5 they tooke a long beame or tim∣ber tree, and bearing it vpon their armes and shoulders, with the one end there∣of they first brake downe the vppermost ranke of stones: and so descending by degrees,* 1.6 they ouerthrewe the whole towre. The Romaines had two sortes of Rams, the one was rude and plaine; the other artificial and compound: the first, is that which the Carthaginians vsed at Cadiz, and is purtraited in the column of Traian at Rome.

The compound Ram is thus described by Iosephus;* 1.7 a Ramme (saith he) is a mighty great beame, like vnto the mast of a ship, and is strengthned at one end with a head of yron, fashioned like vnto a Ram; and thereof it tooke the name. This Ram is hanged by the middest with roapes vnto an other beame, which lieth crosse a couple of pillars, and hanging thus equallie balanced, it is by force of men thrust forward, and recoiled backeward; and so beateth vpon the wall with his yron heade: neither is there any towre so strong, or wal so broad, that is able to stande before it. The length of this Ramme was of a large scant∣ling, for Plutarch affirmeth, that Anthonie in the Parthian warre had a Ram eighty foote long: and Vitruuius saith, that the length of a Ramme was vsuallie 106. and sometimes 120; and this length gaue great strength and force to the

engine. It was managed at one time with a whole Centurie or order of souldi∣ers: and their forces being spent, they were seconded with another Centurie; and so the ramme plaied continually vpon the wall, without intermission. Iose∣phus saith, that Titus, at the siege of Ierusalem, had a ramme for euerie legion: it was oftentimes couered with a vine, that the men that managed it might bee in more safety. It appeareth by this place, that if a towne had continued out vn∣till the ramme had touched the wall, they could not presume of any acceptati∣on of rendrie; for as much as by their obstinacie, they had brought in perill the liues of their enemies, and were subdued by force of Armes, which affoordeth such mercie as the victor pleaseth.

THE THIRD OBSERVATION.

THe Aduatici, as it seemeth, were not ignorant of the small securitie, which one state can giue vnto another, that commendeth their safe∣tie to be protected by it: for as Architas the Pythagorean saith, a bo∣die, a familie, and an Armie are then well gouerned, when they con∣taine within themselues the causes of their safetie; so we must not looke for anie securitie in a state, when their safetie dependeth vpon a forraine protection. For the olde saying is, that Neque murus, neque amicus quisquam teget, quem propria arma non texere. Although in this case the matter was well qualified, by the ma∣iestie of the Roman Empire, and the late victories in the continent of Gallia, wherof the Hedui with their associates were very gainful witnesses: but amongst kingdomes, that are better suted with equalitie of strength & authority, there is small hope of safetie to be looked for, vnlesse the happy gouernment of both do mutually depend vpon the safetie of either nation. For that which Polybius ob∣serued in Antigonus king of Macedonia, taketh place for the most part amongst all Princes; That kinges by nature esteeme no man, either as a friend or an ene∣mie, but as the calculation of profit shall finde them answerable to their pro∣iectes. And contrariwise, it cutteth off many occasions of practises & attempts, when it is knowne that a state is of it selfe able and readie to resist the dessignes of forraine enemies, according to that of Manlius: Ostendite modo bellum, pa∣cem habebitis: videant vos paratos ad vim, ius ipsi remittent.

THE FOVRTH OBSERVATION.

THe manner of signifying any motion or attempt by fire,* 1.8 was of great vse in the might leason, where the fortification was of so large an exten∣sion: for fire in the night doth appeare far greater then indeed it is, for as much as that part of the aire, which is next vnto the fire, as it is illuminated with the light thereof, in a reasonable distance cannot be discerned from the fire it selfe, and so it seemeth much greater then it is in substance: and contrariwise,

in the daie time it sheweth lesse then it is; for the cleare brightnesse of the aire doth much obscure that light, which proceedeth from a more grosse and mate∣riall bodie: and therefore their custome was to vse fire in the night, and smoake in the daie, suting the transparent middle with a contrarie qualitie, that so it might more manifestly appeare to the beholder.

THE FIFT OBSERVATION.

ANd albeit after the victorie, the Romans inflicted diuers degrees of punishment,* 1.9 according to the malice which they found in an ene∣mie; yet as Flauius Lucanus saith in Liuie, there was no nation more exorable,* 1.10 nor readier to shew mercie, then the Romans were. The punishments which we find them to haue vsed towardes a conquered nati∣on, were these; either they punished them by death, or solde them for bond∣slaues, sub corona, or dismissed them sub iugum; or merced them, in taking away their territories; or made them tributarie states.

Of the first we finde a manifest example in the third of these Commentaries, where Caesar hauing ouerthrowne the Veneti by sea, in as much as they had re∣tained his ambassadours by force, contrarie to the law of nations, he put all the Senate to the sword, and sold the rest sub corona.

Festus saith, that an enemie was said to be sold sub corona, in as much as the captiues stood crowned in the market place, where they were set out to sale; as Cato saith in his booke de re militari, vt populus sua opera potius ob rem bene ge∣stam coronatus, supplicatum eat? quam re male gesta coronatus vaeneat. And Gellius affirmeth the same thing, but addeth also another reason, for as much as the sol∣diers that kept them while they were in selling, incircled them round about, to keepe them together; and this round-about-standing was called Corona. Festus saith, that oftentimes they vsed a speare; and therfore they were said to be sold sub hasta: for as much as amongst the Greekes, by the speare or pike, was signi∣fied the power of Armes, and maiestie of Empires.

When they dismissed them sub iugum, their order was to erect three trees like a paire of gallowes, vnder which they caused all the captiues to passe, as a signe of bondage: for they had so conquered them by force of Armes, that they laide vpon their necke the yoake of thraldome. Liuie saith, that Quintius the dictator dismissed the Aequos sub iugum; and this iugum was made of 3 speares, whereof two were stucke vpright in the ground, and the third was tied ouer∣thwart them. The souldiers that passed sub iugum, were vngirt, and their wea∣pons taken from them, as Festus saith.

Sometimes againe they tooke awaie their landes and territories, and either solde it for mony, & brought it into the treasurie, or deuided the land amongst the Roman people, or let it out to farme rent: of all which Liuie hath manie pregnant examples.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Caesar. either Doway or Bosleduke in Brabant.
• * 1.2

  Circūuallatio
• * 1.3

  In the seuenth commentarie.
• * 1.4

  Aries or the Ram.
• * 1.5

  Cales.
• * 1.6

  Aries simplex
• * 1.7

  Aries com∣posita.
• * 1.8

  To giue no∣tice of an A∣larum by fire.
• * 1.9

  Lib. 25.
• * 1.10

  The punish∣ments which the Romans laied vpon a conqueredna∣tion.