The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - December 13, 2024


PREVIEW： Epochs #189 ｜ Pompey & Caesar： Part XIV


Episode Stats

Length

18 minutes

Words per Minute

164.88203

Word Count

3,131

Sentence Count

147

Hate Speech Sentences

9


Summary

Vercingetorix's rebellion was a serious one, and Caesar couldn't just let it go. So he did what any good Roman general would do, and let them loose on the Gallic tribesmen who had been loyal to him.


Transcript

00:00:00.320 Hello and welcome to this episode of Epochs, where once again I should be continuing my narrative of the decline and fall of the Roman Republic
00:00:07.080 and the narrative of Caesar in Gaul. Now this will be the last episode I'll do about Caesar in Gaul, because we're near the end really.
00:00:15.200 And after this, finally, I'll cut back to Rome. I'll go back a few years and go back and tell you all about what's happening in Rome.
00:00:22.440 Because quite a few years have passed since Caesar was last in Rome for any amount of time whatsoever.
00:00:29.100 And I'll pick up the story with Pompey and Cato and Cicero and all the various things, all the gang wars with Milo and all that sort of thing that's going on there.
00:00:40.700 So that'll be next time. So this is the last episode I'll do all about Caesar in Gaul.
00:00:44.540 And we reach the crescendo of events, really, the rebellion of Vercingetorix and his final defeat.
00:00:52.740 Because if you remember last time, Caesar suffered a minor, relatively minor defeat at Gergovia.
00:00:59.740 So Caesar obviously won't be happy with that. Very, very, very rarely is ever turned back or defeated or suffers any sort of reverse.
00:01:08.060 So when he does have a small one, you know, he's not going to be able to have that.
00:01:14.660 He's not going to let that lie.
00:01:16.660 And Vercingetorix's rebellion was a very big, very serious one.
00:01:20.220 So Caesar really couldn't just let that go.
00:01:23.380 So let's continue the story.
00:01:25.740 We're still in 52, the campaigning season of 52 BC.
00:01:30.420 And what Caesar really wants, what Caesar nearly always wants, is to have a big set-piece open battle.
00:01:37.500 Because he knows he'll almost certainly win that.
00:01:40.720 Caesar's very good at all sorts of insurgency and counter-insurgency style warfare.
00:01:44.840 But when it comes to a stand-up, ding-dong battle, he's even better at that.
00:01:50.060 So that's what he usually wants.
00:01:51.680 And that's what Vercingetorix has, until now, refused to do.
00:01:56.600 You know, he's stayed holed up in his camps or in his towns or on a particularly fortified position
00:02:02.760 and refused to meet Caesar in open battle.
00:02:06.240 But all that is soon to change.
00:02:07.580 I'll let Caesar himself pick up the narrative.
00:02:09.500 He said this, quote,
00:02:10.400 It was essential, they said, for them to get there before him in order to keep the tribe loyal.
00:02:31.040 By this time, Caesar had many proofs of the treachery of the Adewire
00:02:35.200 and felt sure that the result of letting these men go would be to make them revolt all the sooner.
00:02:41.060 However, he thought it unwise to detain them,
00:02:43.860 lest he should be accused of high-handed action or give an impression of being afraid.
00:02:48.360 Before they went, he briefly reminded them of his services to the Adewire.
00:02:52.520 In what a feeble state they were when he received them into alliance,
00:02:56.320 cooped up in their strongholds,
00:02:58.020 stripped of their lands, deprived of all their allies,
00:03:01.880 forced to pay tribute and submit to humiliating demands for hostages,
00:03:06.700 and how he had not merely restored them to their previous position,
00:03:10.120 but raised them to a height of prosperity, prestige and power that they had never reached before.
00:03:16.580 Bidding them pass on this reminder to their countrymen, he let them go.
00:03:21.080 Situated in a strategic position on the Loire
00:03:24.040 was an Adewire town called Noviodunum,
00:03:27.540 to which Caesar had sent all his hostages from the various Gallic states.
00:03:33.080 His stores of grain, public funds, a large part of his personal luggage,
00:03:37.840 and that of his troops and numbers of horses that he had brought in Italy and Spain for use in the war.
00:03:43.500 On reaching this town, Epidoryx and Viridormus heard the latest news about the Adewire,
00:03:50.240 that Litavicus had been received at Bibracte, one of their most important towns,
00:03:56.120 and visited by the chief magistrate Convictio Litavis and a large number of councillors,
00:04:01.880 and that an official embassy had been sent to Vercingetorix to conclude a treaty of peace and alliance.
00:04:07.780 This was too good a chance, they thought, to be missed.
00:04:11.520 Accordingly, they massacred the garrison at Noviodunum and the merchants who lived there,
00:04:17.360 shared the money and horses,
00:04:19.280 had all the hostages taken to the magistrates at Bibracte,
00:04:22.820 and carried away as much grain as they had time to stow into boats,
00:04:27.120 the rest being thrown into the river or burnt.
00:04:29.380 The town itself, they thought they could not possibly hold,
00:04:33.040 so they burnt it to prevent it being of use to the Romans.
00:04:37.000 Then they set about collecting troops from the neighbourhood,
00:04:39.880 placing detachments and pickets along the Loire,
00:04:42.880 that's the river of course, the Loire River,
00:04:45.740 and making demonstrations here and there with their cavalry to intimidate the Romans.
00:04:50.920 In this way, they hoped either to starve them out,
00:04:53.760 or to force them by stress of famine to retire into the province.
00:04:58.280 The province being Transalpine Gaul, more southern France in other words.
00:05:02.500 They were greatly encouraged in this hope by the swollen state of the river,
00:05:06.580 the result of melting snow,
00:05:08.200 which made it to all appearance quite unfoldable.
00:05:11.380 Caesar decided that he must act quickly, as usual.
00:05:15.560 If he had to build bridges, a battle might be forced upon him,
00:05:19.340 and in that case, it would be better to fight before enemy reinforcements arrived.
00:05:23.340 The only alternative was to alter his whole plan of campaign and retire to the province,
00:05:29.020 a course which some of his frightened officers thought unavoidable.
00:05:32.820 But there were many reasons against it.
00:05:34.860 It was undignified and humiliating.
00:05:37.520 The route was a difficult one,
00:05:39.480 and above all, he was anxious about the legions under command of Labienus,
00:05:44.000 who were separated from him.
00:05:45.760 Accordingly, he made a series of extraordinarily long marches by day and night,
00:05:50.380 and astonished everyone by appearing on the bank of Le Loire.
00:05:54.600 The cavalry found a ford good enough for an emergency.
00:05:57.720 All that was needed was for the men to be able to keep their shoulders and arms above water,
00:06:03.260 so as to carry their shields and weapons.
00:06:05.780 Cavalrymen waded in upstream to break the force of the current,
00:06:09.800 and, as the shock of Caesar's appearance unnerved the enemy,
00:06:12.620 the crossing was effected without loss.
00:06:15.760 After provisioning the army with some grain,
00:06:18.520 and a quantity of cattle that were found in the neighbouring fields,
00:06:21.760 he marched towards the country of the Sinonis.
00:06:24.520 Meanwhile, Labienus, leaving the draft recently arrived from Italy,
00:06:28.880 at Agadincum, to protect the baggage,
00:06:31.520 started with his four legions for Lutetia,
00:06:34.840 a town of the Parasire,
00:06:36.820 situated on an island in the Seine.
00:06:38.880 When the Gauls knew of his approach,
00:06:41.460 large forces assembled from the neighbouring tribes,
00:06:44.380 and the chief command was given to an all-Ircan called Camuloginus,
00:06:49.420 who, although enfeebled by age,
00:06:51.860 was called out of retirement to this post of honour
00:06:54.480 on account of his unrivaled knowledge of warfare.
00:06:57.620 Camuloginus noticed a long stretch of marsh,
00:07:00.620 which drained into the Seine,
00:07:02.160 and rendered a wide area almost impassable.
00:07:04.780 In camping nearby,
00:07:05.500 he prepared to prevent the Roman troops from crossing it.
00:07:09.200 Labienus first tried,
00:07:10.740 under cover of a line of mantlets,
00:07:13.140 to make a causeway across the marsh,
00:07:15.240 on a foundation of fascines and other material.
00:07:18.800 Finding this too difficult,
00:07:20.400 he silently quitted his camp some time after midnight,
00:07:23.720 and retraced his steps to Met Lucidum,
00:07:26.420 a town of the Sinonis,
00:07:28.180 situated like Lutetia,
00:07:29.920 on an island in the river.
00:07:31.440 He seized some fifty boats,
00:07:33.040 quickly lashed them together to form a bridge,
00:07:36.460 and sent troops across to the island.
00:07:38.620 Such of the inhabitants,
00:07:40.000 as were left in the town,
00:07:41.520 many had been called up to the war,
00:07:43.240 were terrified by his unexpected attack,
00:07:45.700 and surrendered the place without a fight.
00:07:48.660 After repairing a bridge,
00:07:50.200 recently broken down by the enemy,
00:07:52.200 Labienus crossed to the right bank of the river,
00:07:54.760 marched downstream to Lutetia,
00:07:56.740 and encamped near it.
00:07:58.200 The enemy,
00:07:59.140 informed of this by refugees,
00:08:00.540 from Met Lucidum,
00:08:02.500 sent orders to burn Lutetia,
00:08:04.460 and destroy its bridges.
00:08:06.020 They then moved from their position by the marsh,
00:08:08.780 and encamped on the left bank opposite Labienus.
00:08:11.740 By this time,
00:08:12.700 people were saying that Caesar had retreated from Gergovia,
00:08:15.820 and rumours were circulating,
00:08:17.320 about the insurrection of the Adewire,
00:08:19.500 and the success of the general Gallic rising.
00:08:22.320 Gauls,
00:08:22.920 who got into conversation with Roman soldiers,
00:08:25.620 said that Caesar had been prevented,
00:08:27.600 from continuing his march across the Loire,
00:08:30.180 and compelled by famine to return to the province.
00:08:33.100 The news of the Adewian rebellion,
00:08:35.280 encouraged the Belovaki,
00:08:37.380 who had already been meditating revolt,
00:08:39.840 to mobilise,
00:08:41.040 and make open preparation for war.
00:08:43.180 Now that the situation was so much changed,
00:08:45.460 Labienus saw that he must completely revise his plans.
00:08:49.460 He no longer had any idea of making conquests,
00:08:52.320 or attacking,
00:08:53.540 but was only concerned,
00:08:54.960 to get his army safely back to Adjadinkum.
00:08:58.260 On one side,
00:08:59.300 he was threatened by the Belovaki,
00:09:01.540 reputed the bravest fighters in Gaul.
00:09:03.900 On the other,
00:09:04.960 Camelougenus,
00:09:06.000 who had a well-equipped army ready for action,
00:09:08.960 and Labienus's own legions,
00:09:10.900 were separated from their reserves,
00:09:12.720 and their baggage,
00:09:13.960 by a great river.
00:09:15.240 Confronted suddenly by such formidable difficulties,
00:09:18.240 he realised that only resolute action could save him.
00:09:21.280 Towards evening,
00:09:22.000 he assembled his officers,
00:09:23.560 urging them to execute his orders with energy and care.
00:09:28.360 He placed a Roman knight in charge of each of the boats,
00:09:31.280 which he had bought from Metlicedum,
00:09:33.760 and ordered them to move silently four miles downstream,
00:09:36.900 in the early part of the night,
00:09:38.420 and wait for him there.
00:09:39.780 He detailed,
00:09:40.480 to guard the camp,
00:09:42.040 the five cohorts,
00:09:43.280 which he considered least reliable in action,
00:09:45.900 and told the remaining five,
00:09:47.520 of the same legion,
00:09:48.700 to start upstream with all the luggage,
00:09:50.700 shortly after midnight.
00:09:52.100 Making as much commotion as possible,
00:09:54.180 he also requisitioned some smaller boats,
00:09:56.600 which he sent in the same direction,
00:09:58.400 at high speed.
00:09:59.560 His loud splashing of the oars,
00:10:01.060 and then himself moving quietly out of camp,
00:10:03.860 with the other three legions,
00:10:05.380 and marched downstream to the place,
00:10:07.100 where he had ordered the main flotilla to put in.
00:10:09.980 The enemy patrols,
00:10:11.140 posted all along the river,
00:10:12.700 were taken by surprise,
00:10:14.140 because a sudden heavy storm,
00:10:15.860 concealed the approach of the legions,
00:10:17.780 and both infantry and cavalry,
00:10:19.620 were quickly ferried across,
00:10:21.160 under the superintendents,
00:10:22.660 of the knights in charge of the boats.
00:10:24.800 Just before dawn,
00:10:25.920 the enemy received several reports,
00:10:27.820 almost simultaneously,
00:10:29.480 that there was an unusual commotion,
00:10:31.280 in the Roman camp,
00:10:32.440 that a strong force was marching upstream,
00:10:34.900 that the sound of oars,
00:10:35.980 was audible from the same direction,
00:10:37.920 and that a little way downstream,
00:10:39.800 soldiers were being ferried across.
00:10:41.760 This news made them think,
00:10:43.060 that the Romans were crossing,
00:10:44.300 at three different places,
00:10:45.880 and preparing for a general retreat,
00:10:47.580 in alarm at the revolt of the Adjuai.
00:10:50.400 They therefore divided their own troops,
00:10:52.120 into three sections.
00:10:53.040 One section remained on guard,
00:10:55.440 opposite the Roman camp.
00:10:57.160 A small force,
00:10:58.160 was dispatched towards,
00:10:59.880 Metlocidum,
00:11:01.100 with orders to advance upstream,
00:11:02.840 as far as the boats had gone,
00:11:04.560 and the remainder,
00:11:05.800 were led against Labienus.
00:11:07.480 By dawn,
00:11:08.200 the whole of the three Roman legions,
00:11:09.880 had been taken across,
00:11:11.200 and were in sight of the enemy.
00:11:13.240 Labienus urged them,
00:11:14.420 to remember their long-standing tradition,
00:11:16.500 of courage,
00:11:17.320 and brilliant success,
00:11:18.900 and to imagine that Caesar,
00:11:20.580 who had so often led them to victory,
00:11:22.440 was present in person.
00:11:24.440 He then gave the signal to attack.
00:11:26.800 At the first onset,
00:11:27.940 the right wing,
00:11:29.100 where the 7th legion was posted,
00:11:31.340 drove back the enemy,
00:11:32.560 and put them to flight.
00:11:33.880 On the left,
00:11:34.920 where the 12th legion was,
00:11:36.860 the enemy's front rank,
00:11:38.240 was killed,
00:11:38.900 or disabled by missiles,
00:11:40.560 but the rest put up,
00:11:41.560 a determined resistance,
00:11:43.320 and it was clear,
00:11:44.060 that not a single one of them,
00:11:45.220 had any thought of flight.
00:11:47.220 Camiluginus,
00:11:48.060 was there in person,
00:11:49.260 encouraging his men.
00:11:50.580 The issue still hung in the balance,
00:11:52.720 when,
00:11:53.320 the 7th legion,
00:11:54.480 whose military tribunes,
00:11:55.880 had received a report,
00:11:57.140 of what was happening on the left,
00:11:58.740 appeared in the enemy's rear,
00:12:00.160 and charged.
00:12:01.180 Even then,
00:12:01.800 not a single ghoul,
00:12:02.740 gave ground.
00:12:03.640 All of them,
00:12:04.460 including Camiluginus,
00:12:05.940 were surrounded,
00:12:06.780 and killed.
00:12:08.080 The detachment,
00:12:08.920 left on guard,
00:12:09.600 opposite Labienus's camp,
00:12:11.280 on hearing that a battle,
00:12:12.380 was being fought,
00:12:13.500 went to lend a hand,
00:12:14.520 and occupied a hill,
00:12:16.300 but could not withstand,
00:12:17.480 the charge of the victorious Romans,
00:12:19.640 and joined their fleeing comrades.
00:12:21.980 All who could not escape,
00:12:23.200 into woods or hills,
00:12:24.620 were killed by the cavalry.
00:12:26.460 On the completion of this action,
00:12:28.280 Labienus returned,
00:12:29.540 to Agadincum,
00:12:30.820 where he had left all the baggage,
00:12:32.700 and then rejoined Caesar,
00:12:34.260 with his entire force.
00:12:35.640 End quote.
00:12:36.680 So clever and tricky manoeuvres,
00:12:38.300 by the Romans once again,
00:12:39.580 Labienus himself,
00:12:40.640 is very good,
00:12:41.620 tricking the ghouls,
00:12:42.580 into splitting up their army.
00:12:43.800 Never a good idea,
00:12:45.160 really.
00:12:46.080 Particularly not,
00:12:47.140 if you're outclassed.
00:12:48.540 But that wasn't,
00:12:49.540 Vercingetorix,
00:12:50.380 was it?
00:12:51.100 So the story continues.
00:12:52.640 Quote.
00:12:53.580 The defection of the Adyuaia,
00:12:55.040 was the signal,
00:12:55.840 for a further extension,
00:12:57.220 of the war.
00:12:58.560 They sent embassies,
00:12:59.640 into every part of Gaul,
00:13:01.140 and used all their influence,
00:13:02.660 prestige,
00:13:03.460 and money,
00:13:04.220 to induce other tribes,
00:13:05.480 to join them.
00:13:06.460 The possession of the hostages,
00:13:08.000 whom Caesar had left,
00:13:09.020 in their keeping,
00:13:10.180 gave them another means,
00:13:11.240 of exerting pressure.
00:13:13.040 By threatening to kill them,
00:13:14.500 they could intimidate tribes,
00:13:15.860 which hesitated.
00:13:17.220 They asked Vercingetorix,
00:13:18.840 to visit them,
00:13:19.960 and arrange a plan of campaign.
00:13:22.120 And when he came,
00:13:23.340 claimed the chief command,
00:13:24.520 for themselves.
00:13:25.740 He refused their demand,
00:13:27.320 and a Pan-Gallic council,
00:13:28.660 was summoned,
00:13:29.520 at Bibrakte.
00:13:30.800 There was a full attendance,
00:13:32.240 of tribesmen,
00:13:33.200 from all parts.
00:13:34.740 The matter,
00:13:35.160 was referred to their decision,
00:13:36.640 and they unanimously confirmed,
00:13:38.800 the appointment,
00:13:39.520 of Vercingetorix.
00:13:41.000 The chief absentees,
00:13:42.740 were the Remy,
00:13:43.800 and Ligones,
00:13:45.100 who stuck to their allegiance,
00:13:46.480 with Rome.
00:13:47.220 And the Treveri,
00:13:48.560 who remained neutral throughout,
00:13:50.520 because they lived,
00:13:51.380 at a distance,
00:13:52.520 and were harassed,
00:13:53.340 by German attacks.
00:13:54.940 It was a bitter disappointment,
00:13:56.380 to the Adjui,
00:13:57.300 to have their claim,
00:13:58.120 of leadership rejected.
00:13:59.900 It was with great reluctance,
00:14:02.020 that Epidoryx,
00:14:03.260 and Viridorumus,
00:14:03.640 young men,
00:14:05.220 who regarded themselves,
00:14:06.480 as having a great future,
00:14:08.220 took orders,
00:14:09.040 from Vercingetorix.
00:14:10.600 The various tribes,
00:14:11.680 were required,
00:14:12.700 to send hostages,
00:14:13.640 to Vercingetorix,
00:14:14.880 by a certain date.
00:14:16.360 And the whole of the cavalry,
00:14:17.860 numbering 15,000,
00:14:19.500 was ordered,
00:14:20.060 to concentrate immediately,
00:14:21.500 at Bibrakte.
00:14:22.660 He said,
00:14:23.220 that he would content himself,
00:14:24.740 with the infantry,
00:14:25.880 which he had,
00:14:26.520 in the previous campaign,
00:14:27.820 and would not tempt fortune,
00:14:29.060 by fighting a pitched battle.
00:14:31.020 With his great cavalry strength,
00:14:32.740 it would be quite easy,
00:14:33.640 to prevent the Romans,
00:14:34.860 from getting corn,
00:14:35.840 and forage.
00:14:36.920 All you have to do,
00:14:37.980 he concluded,
00:14:39.220 is to destroy your corn crops,
00:14:41.240 without hesitation,
00:14:42.560 and burn your granaries,
00:14:44.200 knowing that this sacrifice,
00:14:45.700 will make you free men forever,
00:14:47.600 and rulers over others.
00:14:49.400 He then commanded the Adjui,
00:14:51.160 and the Seguseavi,
00:14:52.520 a tribe living on the provincial border,
00:14:54.860 to supply 10,000 infantry,
00:14:57.140 which together,
00:14:57.680 with 800 cavalry,
00:14:59.360 were placed under command,
00:15:00.520 of Epidorex's brother,
00:15:02.480 and detailed,
00:15:03.420 to attack,
00:15:04.440 the Allobrogis.
00:15:05.860 At the same time,
00:15:06.800 however,
00:15:07.560 hoping that the memory,
00:15:08.540 of their recent defeat,
00:15:09.580 by Rome,
00:15:10.400 that was in 61 BC,
00:15:12.200 so,
00:15:12.600 what,
00:15:13.080 10 years ago,
00:15:14.280 nearly,
00:15:15.200 still rankled,
00:15:16.120 in the minds,
00:15:16.800 of the Allobrogis,
00:15:18.220 Vercingetorix,
00:15:19.160 tried to seduce them,
00:15:20.640 from their allegiance,
00:15:21.920 by sending,
00:15:22.500 secret agents,
00:15:23.320 and envoys,
00:15:24.380 who offered,
00:15:24.960 bribes,
00:15:25.440 to their chiefs,
00:15:26.440 and promised the tribesmen,
00:15:27.680 that they should be made rulers,
00:15:29.320 of the whole province.
00:15:30.700 In another direction,
00:15:32.240 the Gabali,
00:15:33.300 and the southernmost clans,
00:15:34.920 of the Arverni,
00:15:36.460 were sent to attack,
00:15:37.980 the Helvi,
00:15:38.720 while the Ruteni,
00:15:39.900 and Kadurai,
00:15:40.940 were to devastate,
00:15:41.800 the country,
00:15:42.640 of the Volcae.
00:15:43.760 To meet these various assaults,
00:15:45.560 a force of militiamen,
00:15:47.060 amounting to 22 cohorts,
00:15:49.140 had been raised,
00:15:49.960 in the province itself,
00:15:51.260 by the general,
00:15:52.400 Lucius Caesar,
00:15:53.500 and was posted,
00:15:54.380 all along the threatened frontier.
00:15:56.000 The Helvi,
00:15:57.360 who chose to offer battle,
00:15:58.600 to the invaders,
00:15:59.340 advancing across their borders,
00:16:01.020 were defeated,
00:16:01.820 with heavy loss.
00:16:02.980 Their chief magistrate,
00:16:04.180 Gaius Valerius Dominaturus,
00:16:06.940 son of Valerius Cabarus,
00:16:08.840 being among the casualties,
00:16:10.500 and were compelled,
00:16:11.560 to take shelter,
00:16:12.300 behind the walls,
00:16:13.060 of their strongholds.
00:16:14.440 The Alabrogues,
00:16:15.660 posted a closely linked,
00:16:17.120 chain of pickets,
00:16:17.980 along the Rhône,
00:16:19.000 and protected their frontier,
00:16:20.320 with great vigilance.
00:16:22.320 Meanwhile,
00:16:23.240 Caesar found a way,
00:16:24.420 of remedying,
00:16:25.260 his inferiority,
00:16:26.900 in cavalry.
00:16:27.940 Since all the roads,
00:16:28.920 were blocked,
00:16:29.740 and no reinforcements,
00:16:30.740 could be got from the province,
00:16:32.000 or from Italy,
00:16:33.060 he sent across the Rhine,
00:16:34.340 to the German tribes,
00:16:35.680 which he had subdued,
00:16:36.860 in previous campaigns,
00:16:38.380 and obtained,
00:16:39.180 some of their cavalry,
00:16:40.620 attended by the light infantrymen,
00:16:42.380 who always fought among them.
00:16:43.740 As their horses,
00:16:44.320 were unsuitable,
00:16:45.160 for the service required of them,
00:16:47.100 he mounted the Germans,
00:16:48.200 on horses requisitioned,
00:16:49.760 from the military tribunes,
00:16:51.400 and other Roman knights,
00:16:52.540 serving with him,
00:16:53.500 and from the time expired,
00:16:55.420 volunteers.
00:16:56.800 During all this time,
00:16:58.240 the Gauls were concentrating,
00:16:59.920 the troops which had been operating,
00:17:01.560 in the country of the Arverni,
00:17:03.500 and the cavalry levied,
00:17:04.980 from all over Gaul.
00:17:06.240 A large number of cavalry,
00:17:07.760 had now been assembled,
00:17:09.260 and while Caesar was marching,
00:17:10.660 through the southeastern part,
00:17:11.960 of the Ligonese territory,
00:17:14.220 into that of the Sequani,
00:17:15.980 so as to be in a better position,
00:17:17.560 for reinforcing the provincial troops,
00:17:20.220 Vercingetorix established himself,
00:17:21.960 in three camps,
00:17:23.040 about ten miles from the Romans,
00:17:24.940 summoning his cavalry officers,
00:17:26.480 to a council,
00:17:27.460 and addressing them.
00:17:28.800 So these are supposed to be,
00:17:29.980 the words of Vercingetorix himself,
00:17:32.460 who was supposed to have said,
00:17:33.920 The hour of victory,
00:17:35.500 he said,
00:17:36.040 has come.
00:17:36.920 The Romans are fleeing to the province,
00:17:38.980 and abandoning Gaul.
00:17:40.380 But although this will assure our liberty for the moment,
00:17:43.200 for future peace and security,
00:17:45.320 we need more than that.
00:17:46.760 Otherwise they will return in increased force,
00:17:49.460 and continue the war indefinitely.
00:17:51.740 So let us attack them on the march,
00:17:53.920 while they are encumbered with their baggage.
00:17:56.200 If the whole column of infantry halts,
00:17:58.360 to come to the rescue,
00:17:59.840 they cannot continue their march,
00:18:01.380 if, which I feel sure is more likely,
00:18:04.420 they abandon the baggage,
00:18:05.760 and try to save their own skins,
00:18:07.660 they will be stripped of their suppliers,
00:18:09.800 without which they cannot live,
00:18:11.400 and disgrace into the bargain.
00:18:13.680 As for their cavalry,
00:18:14.980 not a man of them will dare to stir outside the column.
00:18:18.360 You ought to know that as well as I do.
00:18:20.620 To encourage your men,
00:18:21.900 I will draw up all my troops in front of the camps,
00:18:24.620 and overawe the enemy.
00:18:26.320 So Vercingetorix feels like,
00:18:28.140 all the momentum and energy is with him,
00:18:30.260 and that the Romans are entirely on the back foot.
00:18:33.200 And it's only a case of pressing the issue.
00:18:36.220 Well, the story goes on.
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