Commentariorum De Bello Gallico C. Iuli Caesaris Libri Octo

Introduction

   59 B.C. saw Caesar achieve the highest political office in Rome, that of consul. Due to the unofficial agreement he made with Gnaeus Pompeius and Marcus Licinius Crassus (the so-called First Triumvirate), he ran practically unopposed and easily won election. While in office he passed a land reform bill, giving land to the poor and also to Pompey's veterans from his Mithridatian campaign since Pompey had been unable to get land for them, and other jurisprudential laws designed to eliminate some of the corruption that he saw rampant in the Senate, the Plebian Tribunate, and the Courts. It was agreed by the Triumvirate that, at the end of his consulship, as proconsul he would govern the provinces of Cisalpine, Transalpine Gaul, and Illyricum. The tribune Vatinius proposed his governing Cisalpine and Illyricum, the Senate approved and added Transalpine Gaul to them. Why this marked change occurs, from the previously standard procedure of drawing lots to assign provincial governorships, is not explicitly discussed anywhere, nor as to when such a change had been made in the procedures.
   Thus, at the beginning of 58 B.C. Caesar took off for his provinces, with a quaestor, ten legati, and four legions under his control. He begins his commentaries on the Gallic War with a description of Gaul and the various powerful tribes in the area and the hostilities which soon began between the tribes and himself. The campaigns of Caesar in Gaul lasted through eight seasons (58-51 B.C.), and are told in eight books,--the last written by Hirtius, an officer of Caesar,--each book containing the operations of a single year. The eight books are divided as follows:

   Book I. 58 B.C. Caesar checks the attempt of the Helvetians to settle in Western Gaul, and, after a bloody defeat, forces the remnant to return to their own territory. He then engages with a powerful tribe of Germans, who had made a military settlement in Eastern Gaul, and drives them, with their chief, Ariovistus, back across the Rhine.
   Book II 57 B.C. A formidable confederacy of the northern populations of Gaul is suppressed, with the almost complete extermination of the bravest Belgian tribe, the Nervii, in a battle which seems to have been one of the most desperate of all that Caesar ever fought. In this campaign the coast towns of the west and northwest (Brittany) also are reduced to submission.
   Book III 56 B.C. After a brief conflict with the mountaineers of the Alps, who attacked the Roman armies on their march, the chief operations are the conquest of the coast tribes of Brittany (Veneti, etc.), in a warfare of curious naval engineering in the shallow tide-water inlets and among the rocky shores. During the season, the tribes of the southwest (Aquitani), a mining population, allied to the Iberians or Basques, are reduced by one of Caesar's officers.
   Book IV 55 B.C. An inroad of the Germans into Northern Gaul is repulsed, and Caesar follows them by a bridge of timber hastily built across the Rhine. Returning, he crosses to Britain in the early autumn for a visit of exploration.
   Book V 54 B.C. The partial conquest of Britain (second invasion) is followed by various movements in Northern Gaul, in which the desperate condition of the Roman garrisons is relieved after serious losses by the prudent and brave conduct of Labienus and Quintus Cicero.
   Book VI 53 B.C. Caesar makes a second brief expedition across the Rhine against the Germans. Some general disturbances are quelled, and Northern Gaul is reduced to peace.
   Book VII 52 B.C. Vercingetorix, a brave and high-spirited chief of Southern Gaul, effects a confederacy of the whole country, which is at length subdued. Vercingetorix surrenders himself to secure the quiet of the country, and is taken in chains to Rome, where he was afterwards put to death at Caesar's triumph.
   Book VIII 51 B.C. Slight insurrections breaking out here and there are easily subdued; and by the capture of the last native stronghold, Uxellodunum, the subjugation of Gaul is made complete.

-- Excerpted from "Introduction," Caesar's Gallic War, Allen & Greenough Edition. ed. James B. Greenough, Benjamin L. D'Ooge, M. Grant Daniel. Ginn & Co.; Boston: 1898.

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