The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - PREVIEW： Epochs #183 ｜ Pompey & Caesar： Part VIII

00:00:00.120 Hello and welcome to this episode of Epochs, where I shall be continuing once again my narrative of the decline and fall of the Roman Republic,

00:00:07.780 carrying on with the military career of Julius Caesar and his time in Gaul, his many years in Gaul, a big chunk of his whole life he spent fighting in Gaul and conquering Gaul.

00:00:17.360 If you remember last time, Caesar had put down the German war master Ariovistus, and he had left his army wintering right in the centre of France essentially,

00:00:29.620 but he himself had popped back to Italy for various administrative reasons over that winter.

00:00:35.700 Now, it seems that something happened, there was some sort of shift in public opinion, if you can say such a thing, even existed in the first century BC.

00:00:45.420 Public opinion had changed, it seems, over the course of that winter.

00:00:49.960 It seems that a lot of the remaining Gallic tribes that hadn't already been subdued by the Romans

00:00:55.160 had decided or realised that Rome was now their first existential threat,

00:01:01.740 and that they should really band together to try and do something about it, particularly the Belgic tribes, the Belgae.

00:01:09.880 So the next section I'm going to talk all about is the following year now, 57 BC, we're now in 57 BC,

00:01:16.100 and Caesar spends this whole year just fighting the Belgae, which are up in more northern France,

00:01:22.760 up near Holland and Belgium, and along the Rhine there.

00:01:26.880 So the first thing to say is that the word Belgae, there's not just one tribe, one people called the Belgae,

00:01:31.980 it's a coalition of lots and lots of different people.

00:01:35.440 In fact, they get some Germans to fight alongside them as well, but we'll get into all that detail.

00:01:40.420 So let's just start with a paragraph here from Caesar, who says this, quote,

00:01:46.080 While Caesar was in Italy and the legions in their winter quarters, repeated rumours reached him,

00:01:51.400 alleging what was confirmed by dispatches by Labienus, one of his generals he'd left in France,

00:01:57.480 that all the Gallic tribes whose territory, as said above, comprises a third of Gaul,

00:02:02.360 were conspiring against the Romans and exchanging hostages.

00:02:06.040 Their action was said to be due to two causes.

00:02:08.820 In the first place, they were afraid that if all the rest of Gauls subdued,

00:02:14.160 our troops would advance against them.

00:02:16.240 Secondly, they were instigated, from various motives, by a number of Celtic Gauls.

00:02:22.240 Some of these were as much annoyed by the sight of a Roman army wintering Gaul,

00:02:26.560 and establishing itself there, as they had been by the continued presence of the Germans in the country.

00:02:31.840 Others, fickle and inconstant, merely hankered after a change of masters.

00:02:36.240 There were also some adventurers who saw that under Roman rule,

00:02:40.400 they would not find it so easy to usurp thrones,

00:02:43.040 as was commonly done in Gaul by powerful men and by those who could afford to hire mercenaries.

00:02:47.920 So, as I said, you can see there that the Gauls have realised that Caesar's here to stay.

00:02:53.960 The Romans are here to stay. 1.00

00:02:54.920 They've been in southern Gaul, the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul.

00:02:58.860 They've been there for a long time, generations, but have certainly never pushed up into central or even northern Gaul,

00:03:06.300 or up to the Rhine region, or up to the Channel region.

00:03:09.660 That had never happened before.

00:03:11.160 And they sort of know already, it's been a couple of years Caesar's been in Gaul, more or less.

00:03:16.760 They seem to have got Caesar's number.

00:03:19.220 They know that he's there for conquest and that he's not going to go away,

00:03:23.540 and if they don't band together, they wouldn't stand a chance.

00:03:27.880 Caesar continues, quote,

00:03:28.780 These alarming reports induced Caesar to raise two new legions in Italy.

00:03:33.240 Just raise two new legions, just like that.

00:03:36.080 If you don't get any more detail about the difficulty of that, or not.

00:03:39.880 He just did it. It just happened.

00:03:41.580 Two new legions straight away.

00:03:43.100 And to send them in the spring to Gaul under the command of Quintus Pedius, one of his generals.

00:03:48.440 As soon as forage began to be plentiful, he joined the army in person

00:03:52.260 and instructed the Senones and the other tribes whose territory bordered on that of the Belgae

00:03:57.800 to find out what was going on among them and inform him.

00:04:01.460 See, his intelligence apparatus was top notch.

00:04:05.660 Caesar never neglected the intelligence side of war.

00:04:10.200 As their reports all agreed that troops were being levied and concentrated,

00:04:14.680 he decided that he must take the offensive at once.

00:04:17.540 Again, classic Caesar.

00:04:18.840 I just have to fight and act.

00:04:20.880 That's the main thing.

00:04:21.960 And after arranging for a supply of grain, he broke camp and in a fortnight was on the Belgic frontier.

00:04:27.800 End of quote.

00:04:28.540 So again, I've said before, and it will keep coming up again and again and again,

00:04:31.780 not just in the Gallic wars, but in the whole rest of Caesar's life and career,

00:04:38.320 he moves fast.

00:04:39.960 He moves so fast.

00:04:41.340 And it seldom fails him.

00:04:43.900 Once or twice he'll sort of move too fast for his own good

00:04:46.260 and outstrip his supplier or something like that.

00:04:49.740 But it nearly always works, it seems, in the ancient world, or certainly in the pre-modern world anyway.

00:04:56.600 Moving very, very fast as a military commander is a great thing to do.

00:05:00.820 I say the pre-modern world.

00:05:01.740 Even someone like George Patton in World War II, it worked very, very well for.

00:05:07.600 As long as your army isn't massively entrenched and you're not massively outnumbered,

00:05:13.240 then it's a great tactic.

00:05:15.940 The narrative continues, quote,

00:05:17.000 On his arrival, which, owing to the speed of his march, was quite unexpected,

00:05:23.280 the Remy, the nearest of the Belgae in Celtic Gaul,

00:05:27.080 sent Iccius and Andracombogius, that's the name, Andracombogius,

00:05:31.700 the leading men of their tribe,

00:05:34.420 to tell him that they placed themselves and all they possessed under the protection

00:05:38.220 and at the disposal of the Roman people.

00:05:40.760 They explained that they had taken no part in the conspiracy

00:05:43.660 which the rest of the Belgae had planned against the Romans

00:05:46.140 and that they were ready to give hostages, to obey his orders,

00:05:50.060 to admit him into their strongholds and to furnish corn and other supplies.

00:05:54.420 The remainder of the Belgae, they said, were up in arms

00:05:56.900 and had been joined by the Germans living on the Gallic side of the Rhine

00:06:00.560 and all of them were possessed by such fury that even the Suessones,

00:06:06.400 their own near kinsmen who enjoyed the protection of the same laws as themselves

00:06:09.960 and obeyed the same king and the same magistrate,

00:06:12.380 had refused to listen when they tried to deter them from joining the movement.

00:06:17.040 So you can see there that not all tribes were completely of the same mind.

00:06:20.940 The ones closest to where Caesar had already conquered up to

00:06:24.820 were prepared to give in and just work with the Romans. 0.57

00:06:28.420 Now, in hindsight, they were probably right to, you know,

00:06:32.060 the Romans don't leave Gaul for hundreds of years. 0.76

00:06:35.620 So the Remy probably made the right decision there.

00:06:39.260 But the rest of the Belgae and the Gallic Gaulic people,

00:06:42.920 and some of the Germans even, are proud and weren't prepared to sort of see the writing on the wall.

00:06:48.800 Or it is touch and go for a while.

00:06:51.280 So it's not, it's easy to think that Caesar was always going to conquer Gaul

00:06:54.860 because it's so famous, right? It's such a famous story.

00:06:57.020 It's easy to fall into that trap of thinking that it was a cakewalk

00:07:02.160 or it was a fait accompli or it was just always going to happen.

00:07:06.400 Well, no, that's not how history goes.

00:07:08.140 And later in the story, even towards the end of the story,

00:07:10.720 Caesar comes very, very close to getting routed and defeated

00:07:13.360 and even killed himself and all that sort of thing.

00:07:16.440 So it's not unreasonable or crazy for the Belgae and the various coalitions against Caesar

00:07:23.120 to think that they might be able to beat him and kick him out,

00:07:26.760 boot him back into Italy or Spain.

00:07:29.540 Yeah, that's not a crazy, a crazy concept.

00:07:33.000 Okay, the story goes on.

00:07:34.240 Quote,

00:07:34.740 On being asked for the names of the tribes that had taken up arms

00:07:37.920 and particulars of their numbers and military strength,

00:07:41.000 the envoys, spires,

00:07:43.000 stated that most of the Belgae were descended from tribes

00:07:45.700 which long ago came across the Rhine from Germany

00:07:48.320 and settled in that part of Gaul on account of its fertility,

00:07:52.340 expelling the former inhabitants. 0.98

00:07:54.520 The Belgae, they said,

00:07:55.880 were the only people who half a century earlier,

00:07:58.700 when all the rest of Gaul was overrun by the Cheutone and the Cimbri, 1.00

00:08:02.260 they were the Germans that Marius fought, if you remember,

00:08:04.700 prevented the invaders from entering their territory,

00:08:07.540 the recollection of which made them assume an heir of much importance

00:08:10.840 and pride themselves on their military power.

00:08:13.580 Regarding their numbers,

00:08:14.560 the Remy professed to have detailed information,

00:08:17.780 explaining that they were united with the various tribes

00:08:20.220 by ties of blood and marriage

00:08:21.560 and knew the strength of the contingent

00:08:23.520 that each had promised in the general council of the Belgae.

00:08:26.900 So, great intelligence.

00:08:28.440 Find out the numbers of your enemy.

00:08:31.180 That's gold.

00:08:32.120 That's gold dust.

00:08:32.640 The most powerful of all, they said,

00:08:35.460 were the Belovaki.

00:08:36.860 On account of their bravery, prestige and large population,

00:08:40.560 they could muster 100,000 troops

00:08:42.500 and had promised 60,000 picked men

00:08:45.220 and claimed the direction of the whole campaign.

00:08:48.620 So, the Belovaki are one of the key peoples in this.

00:08:52.200 It goes on.

00:08:52.820 The Suezones, near neighbours of the Remy themselves,

00:08:56.440 had an extensive and very fertile territory.

00:08:59.080 I'll put a map up so everyone can see what's going on.

00:09:01.820 They had been ruled within living memory by Diviachius.

00:09:04.880 Remember him from the last couple of episodes?

00:09:07.160 The most powerful king in Gaul,

00:09:09.160 who controlled not only a large part of the Belgic country,

00:09:12.120 but Britain as well.

00:09:14.140 I have to pause there.

00:09:16.280 You would have thought Caesar would have mentioned that before now

00:09:18.380 if that had been the case

00:09:19.240 because Diviachius has come up quite a lot already

00:09:21.900 and there's no mention that he was also the ruler of Britain.

00:09:26.120 But, later in the story, an episode or two from now,

00:09:29.500 we'll talk all about Britain

00:09:30.480 because Caesar bounces across the channel a couple of times

00:09:34.240 and has engagements in Britain

00:09:37.700 and we'll talk all about the connection or lack thereof

00:09:41.640 between the Gauls, the Belgae, and the Britons.

00:09:46.680 But it's an interesting line there that he says

00:09:48.680 Diviachius was also some sort of king in Gaul.

00:09:54.380 Certainly not the king of all Britain or England in any way.

00:09:58.460 That doesn't happen for centuries and centuries and centuries yet.

00:10:01.760 Okay, the story goes on.

00:10:02.860 Their present king, the Belgae,

00:10:04.340 their present king was Galba,

00:10:06.320 to whom, as a just and able man,

00:10:08.760 the supreme direction of the war was being entrusted

00:10:11.060 by common consent.

00:10:12.880 He possessed 12 strongholds

00:10:14.700 and undertook to furnish 50,000 troops.

00:10:17.660 An equal number was promised by the Nervi, 0.99

00:10:20.140 so already we're talking 200,000 guys,

00:10:22.660 who were considered by the Belgae themselves

00:10:24.460 to be their fiercest fighters

00:10:26.040 and lived furthest to the north.

00:10:28.500 The Atrabates were to provide 15,000 men,

00:10:31.520 the Ambiani, 10,000,

00:10:33.300 the Morini, 25,000,

00:10:35.580 the Menapi, 9,000,

00:10:37.420 the Caleti, 10,000,

00:10:39.160 the Velio Cascis and the Viromundi,

00:10:41.740 10,000 between them,

00:10:43.220 and the Atuatuki, 19,000.

00:10:45.500 The Condrusi, Ebronis,

00:10:47.800 Ciarosi,

00:10:48.940 and Paimani,

00:10:50.220 who were all known as German tribes,

00:10:52.020 thought that they could raise an army about 40,000 strong.

00:10:55.480 End quote.

00:10:56.580 So, loads, like hundreds,

00:10:59.100 hundreds of thousands of guys.

00:11:00.740 A good quarter of a million,

00:11:01.980 if the numbers are to be believed, that is,

00:11:05.100 but, you know,

00:11:05.680 easily something in the order of

00:11:07.940 a quarter of a million men,

00:11:10.420 300,000 men,

00:11:11.560 fighting men, that is.

00:11:12.820 So,

00:11:14.240 a fearsome giant host,

00:11:17.260 the Belgae Coalition,

00:11:18.920 including, as you said,

00:11:20.000 they're Germans.

00:11:21.200 Caesar would have had nowhere near that many.

00:11:23.620 Nowhere near.

00:11:24.220 It's only got a handful of legions.

00:11:25.840 Four, five, six, seven legions.

00:11:28.580 You know,

00:11:28.820 a few thousand.

00:11:30.000 Nowhere near.

00:11:31.180 Nowhere near that.

00:11:32.400 Again,

00:11:32.760 scholars and historians have always argued about,

00:11:34.760 or always do argue about numbers,

00:11:37.120 when we're given numbers in ancient sources.

00:11:39.480 The tendency is to nearly always say,

00:11:41.100 oh, they're exaggerating.

00:11:43.160 Particularly in this account,

00:11:44.400 where it's Caesar.

00:11:44.980 Obviously, he wants to make himself

00:11:46.060 sound as cool as possible,

00:11:47.880 as great as possible, right?

00:11:48.980 So,

00:11:49.600 if your enemy is a giant, giant host,

00:11:52.440 that reflects even better on you,

00:11:55.020 if you beat them.

00:11:56.100 So, maybe he is exaggerating.

00:11:57.620 I wouldn't be surprised if there's some exaggeration in there.

00:12:00.140 But then other people say,

00:12:01.320 other people argue,

00:12:02.560 with some reason,

00:12:03.900 that even if it is a bit exaggerated,

00:12:06.260 it probably wouldn't be massively exaggerated,

00:12:09.580 because people at the time would know,

00:12:11.540 and just call him out for being a liar.

00:12:13.040 You know, 0.55

00:12:14.080 you can sometimes fib a bit,

00:12:16.440 or exaggerate a bit,

00:12:17.740 but if you do it too much,

00:12:19.260 if it's too obvious or egregious,

00:12:21.080 you just won't get away with it.

00:12:22.620 So,

00:12:23.120 I have always thought that those numbers

00:12:24.720 were probably a bit exaggerated,

00:12:26.520 but not that much.

00:12:28.120 That's my feeling.

00:12:29.160 But who knows?

00:12:30.540 No one knows.

00:12:31.660 The archaeology will never be able to tell us,

00:12:34.020 and there were no other good accounts,

00:12:36.040 so we will never know.

00:12:37.740 All right,

00:12:38.180 Caesar continues here,

00:12:39.260 quote,

00:12:39.960 Caesar addressed the Remy

00:12:41.200 in gracious and reassuring terms,

00:12:43.820 telling them to send their whole council to him,

00:12:46.080 and to place the children of their leading citizens

00:12:48.120 in his hands as hostages.

00:12:50.120 Again,

00:12:50.580 most people might know,

00:12:51.720 and I've said a few times at epochs,

00:12:53.160 that ancient hostages,

00:12:55.320 quote-unquote hostages,

00:12:56.260 are not the same as a modern-day hostage.

00:12:58.940 It's not like you're kept in a cell,

00:13:01.180 just awaiting execution or something.

00:13:03.660 You may well be treated, 0.52

00:13:04.860 if you're a child that's given over to a Roman, 0.99

00:13:07.880 as a hostage,

00:13:08.520 you might be raised in Rome in opulence.

00:13:10.620 You might be,

00:13:11.420 you might not,

00:13:12.040 but it's not quite like a modern-day hostage,

00:13:14.860 where you're in a world of hurt.

00:13:16.440 You're not necessarily in a world of hurt.

00:13:18.120 Okay,

00:13:18.320 anyway,

00:13:19.360 in fact,

00:13:19.780 kind of the point of it is that you're treated well,

00:13:22.340 so that if and when you are returned,

00:13:23.680 and you probably will be returned,

00:13:25.040 probably,

00:13:25.740 you can tell stories of how you're treated well,

00:13:28.980 and that the friendship between your peoples

00:13:30.660 can now be cemented.

00:13:32.440 And in the Roman side of the equation,

00:13:34.640 anyway,

00:13:34.840 they often like to raise enemy children in Rome, 0.84

00:13:37.800 in sort of the Latin style,

00:13:40.140 make them literate and things,

00:13:42.040 and then,

00:13:42.560 you know,

00:13:42.760 it's a long game,

00:13:43.840 it's a long con,

00:13:45.160 but then they'll take that culture back to their own lands,

00:13:49.140 and there'll be a seedbed of Roman,

00:13:52.200 Mediterranean culture all over the place.

00:13:55.080 It actually worked very well,

00:13:56.700 a very good long con,

00:13:57.940 it seems.

00:13:58.760 Okay,

00:13:59.000 it goes on.

00:13:59.360 These orders were carefully and punctually obeyed.

00:14:03.300 So the Remy,

00:14:04.320 do capitulate to the Romans,

00:14:05.620 sort of completely.

00:14:06.660 He,

00:14:07.120 Caesar,

00:14:07.780 impressed upon Diviacus,

00:14:09.480 the Aduan,

00:14:10.480 the importance,

00:14:11.660 alike for Rome,

00:14:12.580 and for the general safety of Gaul,

00:14:14.300 of preventing the junction of the various enemy contingents,

00:14:17.880 in order to avoid the necessity of fighting such powerful forces all at once.

00:14:22.720 Yeah,

00:14:23.080 classic,

00:14:23.700 classic,

00:14:24.140 of course.

00:14:24.500 If you can divide your enemy,

00:14:26.580 that's in your interest,

00:14:27.480 if you're outnumbered,

00:14:28.200 or even if you're not outnumbered,

00:14:29.120 it's just always going to be a good thing to do,

00:14:31.840 if you can divide your enemy into smaller chunks.

00:14:34.460 Just being completely outnumbered and overawed on the battlefield,

00:14:40.480 you don't want that,

00:14:41.920 obviously.

00:14:43.400 He,

00:14:43.920 Caesar again,

00:14:44.660 explained that the best way of effecting this was for the Adiwai to invade the land of the Belovaki,

00:14:50.600 and start devastating it,

00:14:51.960 and dismissed Diviciacus with orders to do so.

00:14:55.620 So,

00:14:56.040 here,

00:14:56.500 you know,

00:14:57.660 Caesar is laying waste to the land here,

00:15:01.080 or getting other Gauls to lay waste to Gaul. 0.97

00:15:04.380 I mean,

00:15:04.760 so far in this story,

00:15:06.500 there hasn't been a great deal of that,

00:15:09.520 but there is a lot more of it as it goes on.

00:15:12.680 You know,

00:15:12.840 because some people,

00:15:13.380 a lot of people think Caesar is a superb,

00:15:15.460 great person,

00:15:16.520 but other people do say,

00:15:17.740 you know,

00:15:17.980 he did something terrible in Gaul.

00:15:20.760 It gets worse as we go along.

00:15:23.020 You know,

00:15:23.200 he did something approaching what,

00:15:25.000 in the modern day,

00:15:26.100 in the second half of the 20th century,

00:15:28.080 we might call war crimes,

00:15:30.060 or we might call genocide or something,

00:15:33.460 ethnic cleansing,

00:15:34.540 et cetera.

00:15:35.780 Of course,

00:15:36.360 all those things are massive anachronisms.

00:15:38.800 The ancient world had no concept,

00:15:40.960 really,

00:15:41.240 of those things.

00:15:41.900 It just didn't work like that.

00:15:44.620 Nevertheless,

00:15:45.260 you're still right and wrong,

00:15:46.920 isn't it?

00:15:48.380 They're still devastating the land of innocent peoples. 0.99

00:15:51.720 They're still the butchery of innocent peoples. 1.00

00:15:54.260 It was never,

00:15:55.260 at any point in human history,

00:15:57.140 good or okay.

00:15:59.020 But yeah,

00:15:59.360 so it must be pointed out,

00:16:00.280 because I probably won't do it all that much

00:16:02.420 to point out the,

00:16:04.400 sort of,

00:16:04.980 the amount of,

00:16:05.820 well,

00:16:06.240 human misery

00:16:07.080 that Caesar left in his wake.

00:16:09.180 I will do from time to time,

00:16:10.400 but bear in mind

00:16:11.700 that that is what's going on

00:16:13.660 a lot of the time,

00:16:15.440 continuing on.

00:16:16.220 When,

00:16:16.980 however,

00:16:17.680 he learnt from his patrols

00:16:19.060 and from the Remy

00:16:19.760 that the Belgae

00:16:20.880 had already completed

00:16:22.260 their concentration

00:16:23.140 and were approaching,

00:16:24.580 he hastily crossed the River Aen,

00:16:26.700 just within the borders

00:16:27.740 of the Remy

00:16:28.380 and encamped.

00:16:30.020 This movement enabled him

00:16:31.480 to protect one side of his camp

00:16:33.580 by the river

00:16:34.380 and to secure his rear

00:16:35.820 and assured the safety of the convoys

00:16:37.960 that were to be sent up

00:16:39.380 by the Remy and others.

00:16:41.120 See,

00:16:41.340 it doesn't sound like much,

00:16:42.380 but Caesar's got a tactical mind.

00:16:45.720 You know,

00:16:46.440 as I say,

00:16:46.900 it doesn't sound much,

00:16:47.780 just making sure

00:16:48.420 that your one side,

00:16:50.320 one flank

00:16:50.760 is protected by a river

00:16:51.980 and that your,

00:16:52.940 the rear is secured

00:16:54.180 and all that sort of thing.

00:16:55.520 Lots of generals

00:16:56.200 all throughout history,

00:16:57.260 even going up

00:16:58.160 into the 20th century,

00:16:59.920 don't know to do those things

00:17:01.360 or aren't capable of it

00:17:02.420 or they don't have the ire

00:17:04.120 to know where's a solid,

00:17:07.080 decent place to camp

00:17:08.040 and where is a terrible, 1.00

00:17:09.720 stupid place to camp. 1.00

00:17:10.680 Well, 1.00

00:17:10.840 Caesar absolutely has the ire,

00:17:13.060 one of the best ever.

00:17:14.300 So that sort of thing

00:17:15.020 was just bread and butter.

00:17:15.720 We probably didn't really

00:17:17.280 spend any time thinking about it.

00:17:19.000 It's just obviously

00:17:19.580 we're going to do this.

00:17:21.520 Okay,

00:17:22.060 so it goes on.

00:17:22.880 The river was spanned

00:17:23.780 by a bridge

00:17:24.500 at the head of which

00:17:25.760 he placed a strong guard

00:17:27.000 leaving one of his generals,

00:17:29.460 Quintus Titorus Sabinus,

00:17:31.320 on the left bank

00:17:32.180 with six cohorts.

00:17:33.660 He ordered the camp

00:17:34.480 to be made

00:17:35.020 with a rampart

00:17:35.740 12 feet higher

00:17:36.680 and a trench

00:17:37.600 18 feet wide.

00:17:39.060 Once again,

00:17:39.560 no small feet,

00:17:40.780 quite a large,

00:17:42.160 a reasonably large

00:17:43.060 bit of engineering,

00:17:44.720 just quickly order that

00:17:45.660 and it just happens,

00:17:46.500 just springs up.

00:17:47.600 It feels like,

00:17:48.420 doesn't it?

00:17:48.980 Often,

00:17:49.340 it just feels like.

00:17:49.880 Caesar orders

00:17:50.420 some sort of giant earthwork

00:17:52.060 or some sort of building construction,

00:17:54.140 would have all been in wood,

00:17:55.580 just orders it

00:17:56.340 and it's just happened.

00:17:58.140 That's the way

00:17:58.580 Caesar tells the story.

00:17:59.580 But you do get

00:18:00.460 that impression that,

00:18:01.600 and we do know

00:18:02.220 from other sources,

00:18:02.880 that the Romans,

00:18:03.860 the Roman army,

00:18:04.460 at least in this period

00:18:05.340 and have been for a while,

00:18:06.800 extremely good

00:18:07.720 at this sort of thing.

00:18:09.300 Extremely good.

00:18:10.920 Gallic and German armies

00:18:13.360 don't do this.

00:18:15.060 They don't build,

00:18:15.940 not very quickly anyway,

00:18:17.240 not very much.

00:18:18.300 They don't build massive camps

00:18:19.900 and earthworks

00:18:21.760 on a battlefield

00:18:23.300 out of scratch

00:18:23.920 that they're only going to need

00:18:24.740 or use for a short period of time.

00:18:26.960 They just don't do it.

00:18:28.240 It's rare throughout

00:18:28.760 all of history, actually.

00:18:30.220 Caesar goes on,

00:18:30.940 quote,

00:18:31.580 Eight miles away

00:18:32.440 was the town of the Remy

00:18:33.620 called Bibrax,

00:18:35.360 which the Belgae,

00:18:36.620 as soon as they reached it,

00:18:37.780 assaulted so violently

00:18:39.300 that the garrison

00:18:40.360 had difficulty

00:18:41.120 in holding out

00:18:42.200 to the end of the day.

00:18:43.760 The Belgae have the same method 1.00

00:18:45.160 of attacking a fortress

00:18:46.140 as the rest of the Gauls.

00:18:48.180 They begin by surrounding

00:18:49.220 the whole circuit of the wall

00:18:50.460 with a large number of men

00:18:51.680 and showering stones

00:18:53.200 at it from all sides.

00:18:55.040 When they have cleared it

00:18:55.860 of defenders,

00:18:57.180 they lock their shields

00:18:58.040 over their heads,

00:18:59.260 advance close up

00:19:00.260 and undermine it.

00:19:01.540 These tactics

00:19:02.280 were easy to employ

00:19:03.560 on the present occasion,

00:19:05.100 for with such a large force

00:19:06.400 hurling stones and javelins,

00:19:08.480 no one could possibly

00:19:09.400 stay on the wall.

00:19:10.640 When night stopped

00:19:11.460 the assault,

00:19:12.500 Iccius,

00:19:13.260 the governor of the town,

00:19:14.520 a Roman nobleman

00:19:15.440 who was very influential

00:19:16.560 with his countrymen

00:19:17.560 and he'd been one

00:19:18.400 of the envoys

00:19:19.120 deputed to ask Caesar

00:19:21.040 for peace,

00:19:22.080 sent word

00:19:22.640 that unless relieved,

00:19:24.060 he could not hold out longer.

00:19:25.680 Shortly after midnight,

00:19:27.200 using as guides

00:19:28.140 the men

00:19:28.620 who had brought

00:19:29.280 Iccius' message,

00:19:31.040 Caesar sent some

00:19:31.880 Numidians, 0.99

00:19:33.000 Cretan archers

00:19:33.960 and Balearic slingers 0.95

00:19:35.360 to help him.

00:19:36.280 That's classic.

00:19:36.880 Numidian horsemen 0.94

00:19:37.960 are some of the best around,

00:19:39.960 Cretan archers

00:19:40.740 are known for being

00:19:41.420 great archers

00:19:42.160 and everyone knows

00:19:43.500 the best slingers

00:19:44.200 in the world

00:19:44.780 are from the Balearic Islands.

00:19:47.080 Their arrival restored

00:19:48.300 the morale of the Remy

00:19:49.380 and filled them

00:19:50.340 with fresh ardour

00:19:51.340 for the defence

00:19:52.040 of the town,

00:19:52.980 while the enemy

00:19:53.560 gave up hope

00:19:54.300 of capturing it.

00:19:55.500 Seems like quite a

00:19:56.440 swift turnaround there,

00:19:57.360 doesn't it,

00:19:57.700 the way Caesar tells it.

00:19:58.980 Accordingly,

00:19:59.700 after staying there

00:20:00.560 a short time longer,

00:20:01.860 the Belgae proceeded

00:20:02.800 to ravage the countryside

00:20:03.960 and to burn all the villages

00:20:05.620 and homesteads 0.89

00:20:06.460 within reach

00:20:07.000 and then marched

00:20:08.180 their whole army

00:20:08.960 towards Caesar's camp

00:20:10.040 and themselves encamped

00:20:11.400 barely two miles away,

00:20:12.920 so that's almost

00:20:13.440 right on top of each other,

00:20:14.740 the smoke and flame

00:20:15.660 of their watch fires

00:20:16.740 showed their camp

00:20:18.000 stretched for about

00:20:19.060 eight miles,

00:20:20.440 end quote.

00:20:21.720 So,

00:20:22.320 it's quite aggressive

00:20:23.260 by the Belgae.

00:20:24.640 They don't seem

00:20:25.240 to be particularly

00:20:25.880 intimidated by Caesar,

00:20:27.220 even though they would

00:20:28.420 certainly have known

00:20:29.120 what he'd achieved

00:20:29.960 in the last year or two

00:20:30.960 in Gaul,

00:20:31.860 you know,

00:20:32.100 making short order

00:20:32.940 of the Helvetti

00:20:33.740 and besting Ariovistus

00:20:36.700 apparently without,

00:20:38.400 and a couple of

00:20:39.260 hundred thousand

00:20:39.780 German warriors

00:20:40.480 without too much

00:20:41.720 ball lake.

00:20:43.300 They didn't lose

00:20:43.740 loads of men

00:20:44.700 in that process,

00:20:45.580 it wasn't any sort

00:20:46.280 of Pyrrhic victory

00:20:46.960 for them,

00:20:48.000 and yet the Belgae

00:20:48.580 don't seem to be

00:20:49.660 too concerned,

00:20:52.140 you know,

00:20:52.440 they marched,

00:20:53.060 they basically

00:20:53.580 marched straight up

00:20:54.280 to Caesar,

00:20:54.760 build a camp

00:20:55.220 right next to him,

00:20:56.520 which is massive

00:20:57.180 provocation,

00:20:57.820 it's like,

00:20:58.420 let's do this,

00:20:59.100 we're doing this,

00:21:00.040 right,

00:21:00.240 it's on,

00:21:00.640 it's on now,

00:21:01.780 and that their camp

00:21:03.300 stretched for eight miles,

00:21:05.580 that's big,

00:21:06.480 by any measure,

00:21:08.520 again,

00:21:08.840 if you believe

00:21:09.480 the account,

00:21:11.100 if the account is true,

00:21:12.580 then by any measure

00:21:13.340 that's massive.

00:21:14.240 Caesar's looking at

00:21:15.200 some sort of

00:21:16.560 gigantic host.

00:21:18.660 Okay,

00:21:19.280 he goes on,

00:21:20.200 quote,

00:21:20.880 as the Belgic forces

00:21:21.960 were very strong

00:21:22.780 and had a great

00:21:23.540 reputation for bravery,

00:21:25.380 Caesar determined

00:21:26.080 at first not to fight

00:21:27.100 a general action,

00:21:28.300 but he engaged

00:21:29.100 every day in

00:21:29.980 cavalry skirmishes

00:21:30.940 in order to discover

00:21:32.480 what the enemy

00:21:33.140 could really do

00:21:33.920 and how his own men

00:21:35.560 stood up to them.

00:21:37.480 So,

00:21:37.900 there we can see that

00:21:38.780 even Caesar was a bit

00:21:40.060 fearful,

00:21:40.700 he's like,

00:21:40.980 okay,

00:21:41.220 I'm not just going to

00:21:42.140 steam into these guys

00:21:43.340 at first light,

00:21:44.680 that would be crazy,

00:21:45.900 you know,

00:21:46.140 Caesar obviously makes

00:21:46.900 the calculation

00:21:47.320 that would be suicidal

00:21:48.940 because Caesar's not above

00:21:49.860 doing exactly

00:21:50.800 something like that,

00:21:52.240 you know,

00:21:52.500 if he thinks,

00:21:53.660 again,

00:21:53.980 if he calculates

00:21:54.860 that that's in his interest,

00:21:57.000 that that's the best way

00:21:58.380 to win.

00:21:58.700 Well,

00:21:58.880 he obviously thought here

00:21:59.840 that that would,

00:22:00.900 that would be crazy.

00:22:01.640 So,

00:22:02.380 you know,

00:22:02.860 he's picking around

00:22:03.720 the edges.

00:22:04.240 And he soon found

00:22:05.580 that his troops

00:22:06.520 were as good as theirs.

00:22:08.100 The ground in front

00:22:08.760 of his camp

00:22:09.400 was ideal for deploying

00:22:10.760 the army for action.

00:22:12.240 The low hill

00:22:12.780 on which the camp stood

00:22:13.940 was of just the right width

00:22:15.540 on the side facing the enemy

00:22:17.660 for the legions to occupy

00:22:19.480 in battle formation.

00:22:20.980 On each flank,

00:22:22.100 he descended steeply

00:22:23.100 to the plain

00:22:23.680 while in front of it

00:22:24.900 formed a slight ridge

00:22:26.100 and then sloped

00:22:27.160 gently down.

00:22:28.360 On either side of the hill,

00:22:30.000 Caesar had a trench dug

00:22:31.100 running for about

00:22:32.520 650 yards

00:22:33.980 at right angles

00:22:35.100 to the line

00:22:35.820 along which the troops

00:22:37.280 would be drawn up

00:22:38.120 and placed redoubts

00:22:39.480 and artillery

00:22:40.160 at both ends

00:22:41.180 of each trench

00:22:41.940 to prevent the enemy

00:22:43.160 from using their

00:22:44.020 numerical superiority

00:22:45.240 to envelop his men

00:22:46.700 from the flanks

00:22:47.440 while they were fighting.

00:22:49.080 Again,

00:22:49.560 augmenting the battlefield

00:22:50.920 very, very quickly

00:22:52.260 so it obviously

00:22:53.380 benefits you.

00:22:54.520 Classic Roman thing, 0.99

00:22:56.000 particularly classic Caesar.

00:22:57.860 I mean,

00:22:58.140 even someone like Napoleon

00:22:59.180 didn't do this stuff.

00:23:01.080 Right?

00:23:01.300 Caesar's taken

00:23:01.940 the art of war

00:23:03.360 the art of,

00:23:04.480 you know,

00:23:04.820 full-blown

00:23:05.280 battlefield engagements

00:23:06.780 to new heights

00:23:08.700 it seems.

00:23:11.360 He left the two

00:23:12.340 newly enrolled legions

00:23:13.620 in camp

00:23:14.220 to be used

00:23:15.080 as reinforcements

00:23:16.040 wherever they were needed

00:23:17.060 and drew up

00:23:17.960 the other six in front

00:23:19.080 in line of battle.

00:23:20.600 The enemy had also

00:23:21.780 marched out

00:23:22.420 and deployed for action.

00:23:24.360 There was a small marsh

00:23:25.280 between the two armies.

00:23:26.820 The Belgae waited 0.99

00:23:27.600 in the hope

00:23:28.220 that our troops

00:23:29.000 would try to cross it

00:23:30.240 and our men

00:23:31.020 stood with weapons

00:23:31.820 in their hands

00:23:32.580 ready to pounce

00:23:33.480 upon them

00:23:34.040 at a disadvantage

00:23:35.220 if they attempted

00:23:36.120 to cross first.

00:23:37.480 While,

00:23:38.120 in the meantime,

00:23:39.060 a cavalry skirmish

00:23:40.060 went on between the lines

00:23:41.280 since neither side

00:23:42.540 would make the first move.

00:23:43.960 As soon as the cavalry

00:23:44.780 fight ended

00:23:45.540 in our favour,

00:23:46.760 Caesar led the infantry

00:23:47.700 back into camp.

00:23:49.080 The Belgae

00:23:49.600 then marched

00:23:50.400 straight from their 0.51

00:23:51.120 battle position

00:23:51.780 to the Aen 0.70

00:23:52.800 which I have explained

00:23:54.420 was in the rear

00:23:55.360 of our camp.

00:23:56.200 Caesar slipped

00:23:56.740 into the first person

00:23:57.760 there.

00:23:58.680 You notice he does

00:23:59.480 do that from time

00:24:00.200 to time.

00:24:01.240 They found a ford

00:24:02.140 and tried to get

00:24:02.920 a part of their

00:24:03.500 forces across

00:24:04.200 intending to storm

00:24:05.520 a redoubt

00:24:06.040 commanded by Sabinus

00:24:07.380 and break down

00:24:08.380 the bridge

00:24:08.820 or failing this

00:24:09.780 to deprive us

00:24:11.500 of a very useful

00:24:12.520 source of suppliers

00:24:13.540 for the campaign

00:24:14.400 by devastating

00:24:15.380 the land of the Remy

00:24:16.420 and to cut

00:24:17.700 our communications.

00:24:19.440 Caesar knows

00:24:19.900 that he can't really

00:24:20.580 allow that to happen.

00:24:21.840 So,

00:24:22.600 on being informed

00:24:23.400 of this by Sabinus

00:24:24.680 Caesar crossed the bridge

00:24:26.240 with all the cavalry

00:24:27.140 and light-armed

00:24:28.800 Numidians 1.00

00:24:29.580 the slingers 0.96

00:24:30.460 and the archers

00:24:31.400 and advanced

00:24:32.400 against them.

00:24:33.540 A fierce battle

00:24:34.360 ensued.

00:24:35.620 He attacked them

00:24:36.280 in the river

00:24:36.800 which impeded

00:24:37.780 their movements

00:24:38.380 and killed

00:24:39.100 a large number.

00:24:40.720 Others made

00:24:41.220 a very daring

00:24:41.820 attempt to cross

00:24:42.940 over their dead

00:24:43.560 bodies

00:24:43.960 but were driven

00:24:44.840 back by a shower

00:24:45.720 of missiles

00:24:46.280 while some of

00:24:47.360 the first comers

00:24:48.180 who had succeeded

00:24:49.140 in getting across

00:24:50.000 were rounded up

00:24:51.260 and destroyed

00:24:51.780 by the cavalry.

00:24:53.280 The Belgae

00:24:53.760 now realised

00:24:54.500 that their hope

00:24:55.040 of crossing the river

00:24:55.840 was as vain

00:24:56.720 as their hope

00:24:57.280 of capturing

00:24:57.900 Bibrax

00:24:58.800 and that the Romans

00:24:59.820 would not advance

00:25:00.620 into an unfavourable

00:25:01.920 position to fight.

00:25:03.720 Their own supply

00:25:04.400 of grain too

00:25:05.020 was running short.

00:25:06.600 Summoning a council

00:25:07.380 of war therefore

00:25:08.160 they decided

00:25:09.120 that the best course

00:25:09.960 was for every man

00:25:11.000 to return to his own home

00:25:12.440 and wait to see

00:25:13.480 whose territory

00:25:14.360 the Romans invaded first.

00:25:16.180 So they

00:25:16.580 retreated

00:25:18.020 and lost their bottle

00:25:18.660 a bit.

00:25:19.720 They would then rally

00:25:20.600 from all parts

00:25:21.400 to its defence

00:25:22.360 and would have

00:25:23.400 the advantage

00:25:23.880 of fighting

00:25:24.480 in friendly country

00:25:25.440 where their home

00:25:26.580 supplies of grain

00:25:27.460 would be available.

00:25:29.000 In addition

00:25:29.380 to the other reasons

00:25:30.380 they were led

00:25:31.220 to this decision

00:25:31.920 by the knowledge

00:25:32.620 that the Vigiacus 0.99

00:25:33.700 and his adduans

00:25:34.880 were approaching

00:25:35.980 the frontier

00:25:36.540 of the Belovaki 0.96

00:25:37.580 whose soldiers

00:25:39.160 were so anxious

00:25:39.880 to go to the help

00:25:40.720 of their own people

00:25:41.500 that they could not

00:25:42.480 be induced

00:25:42.880 to stay any longer

00:25:43.720 where they were.

00:25:44.960 So Caesar doing

00:25:45.580 a bit of a

00:25:46.260 two-pronged

00:25:47.740 attack here.

00:25:49.040 In pursuance

00:25:49.720 of their resolve

00:25:50.500 the Belgae

00:25:51.240 left camp

00:25:51.960 some time

00:25:52.660 before midnight

00:25:53.380 amid great uproar

00:25:54.760 and confusion

00:25:55.420 so although Caesar

00:25:56.740 doesn't make a big deal

00:25:57.920 of it

00:25:58.140 he does

00:25:58.500 you know

00:25:58.820 he does rout them

00:25:59.540 essentially

00:25:59.980 so they left

00:26:00.940 in great uproar

00:26:01.480 and confusion

00:26:02.000 without any proper

00:26:03.300 order or discipline

00:26:04.140 since every man

00:26:05.740 wanted to reach home

00:26:06.660 quickly

00:26:07.020 and try to get

00:26:07.980 the first place

00:26:08.660 on the road.

00:26:09.780 The result was

00:26:10.440 that their departure

00:26:11.180 resembled a rout.

00:26:12.760 The movement

00:26:13.140 was immediately

00:26:13.800 reported to Caesar

00:26:14.720 by his scouts

00:26:15.480 but he was afraid

00:26:16.620 at first

00:26:17.100 that an ambush

00:26:17.780 was being laid

00:26:18.580 because the reason

00:26:19.740 for their retreat

00:26:20.420 was not yet apparent

00:26:21.380 and therefore

00:26:22.500 kept all his forces

00:26:23.540 in camp.

00:26:24.560 At daybreak however

00:26:25.420 the reports

00:26:26.280 of his patrols

00:26:27.220 satisfied him

00:26:28.260 that the enemy

00:26:29.180 really were retreating

00:26:30.460 whereupon he sent

00:26:31.640 forward the generals

00:26:32.460 Quintus Pedius

00:26:33.380 and Lucius Cotter

00:26:34.720 with all the cavalry

00:26:35.880 to delay the march

00:26:37.220 of their rearguard

00:26:38.060 and ordered Labienus

00:26:39.760 to follow in support

00:26:40.820 with three legions.

00:26:42.160 To watch the full video

00:26:43.220 please become a premium member

00:26:44.640 at lotusedus.com

00:26:45.880 to winHuh

00:26:47.840 to have a command

00:26:49.180 in this room

00:26:51.040 to be involved

00:26:51.320 with each other

00:26:51.700 and giving some

00:26:53.380 to one another

00:26:54.160 ceremony

00:26:54.500 to be found

00:26:54.960 across the river

00:26:55.520 to see

00:26:56.340 one of my

00:26:57.220 please be

00:26:57.400 on the POV

00:26:57.720 as well.

00:26:58.860 See you all

00:26:58.960 again in this case

The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - November 03, 2024

PREVIEW： Epochs #183 ｜ Pompey & Caesar： Part VIII

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