The Handy Military History Answer Book. Samuel Willard Crompton

of the high-born Roman aristocrat, and by the age of thirty-nine he had everything—wealth, fame, and family—except military glory. His rivals in the Roman leadership scoffed, believing that Caesar was too old to launch a military career, but he quickly showed they were mistaken.

       Who formed the First Triumvirate?

      In 61 B.C.E., Gaius Pompey (104–147 B.C.E.), Marcus Licinius Crassus (112–55 B.C.E.), and Julius Caesar came together to form the First Triumvirate (“rule of three men”). The Senate remained in place, with vigorous debates being held, but most people knew that the major decisions were now made behind the scenes by the Three Triumvirs.

      How did Caesar commence his rise to military fame?

      He asked his two fellow Triumvirs for a five-year appointment in the province of Gaul. Pompey and Crassus were both suspicious: to them it seemed that Caesar was asking for too much. But the more they deliberated on it, the more Pompey and Crassus became convinced that it would be a good thing to have Caesar somewhere other than the capital city, if only because he had become too popular with the masses. They agreed to send Caesar north on a five-year-appointment.

      This did not mean Caesar’s path would be easy, not by any means. Rome claimed all of Gaul, but in 61 B.C.E. it controlled only the southernmost part. The Romans called it simply The Province, and that name has stuck to modern times: we call it Provence.

      Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general who defeated the slave rebellion led by Spartacus and then joined Gaius Pompey and Julius Caesar to form the First Triumvirate.

      Whom did Caesar fight?

      Immediately upon arriving in The Province—which equates to modern-day Provence in southern France—Caesar faced a huge migration movement by the Helvetti tribe. They lived in central Switzerland but were on the move toward The Province. Caesar challenged them, saying that Rome controlled who moved through these lands. Caesar’s written report declares that 280,000 Helvetians came against him and that only one-third of that number returned. He forced them into mountainside skirmishes and battles along rivers whose banks were swollen from the spring rains. He outmaneuvered them, beat them consistently, and when all the strategic moves were accomplished, he left the field to his subordinate generals, knowing that the high efficiency of the Roman legion would prevail. He was correct.

      After the Helvetian threat was neutralized, Caesar faced an invasion by Germanic tribes from the east side of the River Rhine. Caesar consistently beat the Germans in battle, employing the same mixture of tactics that worked against the Swiss tribes.

      How about the Gauls themselves? Did they welcome Roman rule?

      Far from it. From the little documentary evidence that survives, we gather that the Gauls—who proudly proclaimed themselves Celts—detested the rectangular, square-shaped organization of the Romans and that the highest compliment one Gaul could pay another was to declare, “I greet you as a free person.”

      Gaul was still semi-independent from Rome, but Caesar’s numerous battles and campaigns threatened its autonomy. Caesar negotiated with, and sometimes bribed, leading Gallic chieftains, allowing him to pit one against another and to keep Rome’s interests in the advance. It was through this type of clever diplomacy that Caesar was able to bring legions through sections of Gaul on his way north, where he fought the Belgae tribes, ancestors to modern-day Dutch and Belgian peoples.

      What happened to the Belgae and the Britons?

      The Belgae were subdued and nearly destroyed in an enormous campaign that lasted two years. Caesar claimed to have killed or sold into slavery a total of 800,000 Belgae, but this figures seems inflated: at that rate, he would have depopulated most of Northern Europe. But there is no doubt he succeeded or that he then crossed the English Channel to fight the tribes of Britain.

      The British tribes—who were known for painting their faces blue before going into battle—had lived completely free from outside influence for hundreds of years, and they fought fiercely. They met Caesar’s men on the beaches near the mouth of the River Thames and fought them all along the southern coast. Roman discipline, as usual, prevailed, but even Caesar could see that the time was not right for the complete conquest of Britain. He left that for a later date, and it was his collateral relative Claudius who carried out the conquest, eighty years later.

       When was the first bridge across the River Rhine built?

      There may have been some makeshift bridges earlier in human history, but the first solid bridge of which we have certain knowledge was built by Roman engineers in 55 B.C.E. across the River Rhine. Caesar marched three legions across this bridge and defeated the Germans in a number of skirmishes without engaging in a major battle. Withdrawing to the west side of the Rhine, he ordered the bridge destroyed. He rightly believed that he had chastised the Germans; what he did not know was that their descendants would later return as one of the barbarian groups that helped bring down Rome.

      How good a general had Caesar become by this point?

      Even if his career had ended in 55 B.C.E., we would recognize Caesar as one of the greats, both for his decisiveness and speed. Once Caesar made a decision, he never wavered but pursued his goal to the utmost, never failing to follow up a victory. But his greatest days were still to come.

      In 53 B.C.E., the Gauls united behind one leader, Vercingetorix, chief of the Arvernii. He seems to have been a person of great personal magnetism, as well as a careful strategist, who correctly decided that the only way to beat the Romans was by denying satisfaction to their stomachs. In 53–52 B.C.E., Vercingetorix ordered the burning of one Gallic town after another to prevent the Romans from getting food, and after six months of this strategy, the Romans were on the brink of mutiny. Luck favored Caesar, however, when one town—Avaricum—was spared, and the Romans captured it. Flush with success and new food supplies, the Romans continued the campaign. Even though Vercingetorix achieved a signal success at the Siege of Gergovia—where the Romans lost 700 men—he made the mistake of retreating to another hilltop-fortified city—Alesia—where he was cornered by Caesar.

      How did Caesar manage the conquest of Alesia?

      The city, which was unearthed by French archaeologists in the 1860s, was built on a sloping hillside and possessed deep wells: there was no way it would fall under ordinary circumstances. Caesar, however, committed to the siege and had his men dig a series of walls which wrapped eleven miles around Alesia, completely boxing in the Gauls. When he learned that an enormous relief army was being summoned from all across Gaul, Caesar had his men build a second set of ditches and walls: this one was thirteen miles around. When the relief army appeared, its men attacked the outer walls, while Vercing etorix and his garrison attacked the inner ring. Numerous times a breakthrough seemed possible, but Caesar kept bringing reinforcements to just the right place, and after a two-day battle everyone was exhausted. The relief army melted away, and Vercingetorix came down the hill to surrender in person (Caesar kept him a prisoner but had him beheaded during a major celebration in Rome, three years later).

      A bronze statue of Julius Caesar stands in Rimini, Italy. Many statues and busts of the great Roman leader may be found throughout Europe.

      How great—and how ruthless—was Caesar?

      He was both great and ruthless to the same very high degree. Caesar could be merci-ful, but only when it was to his advantage. He employed bribery and flattery as effectively as threats and intimidation. He was, quite simply, one of the great talents of human history, and his Gallic Commentaries, the book he wrote about his campaigns in Gaul, reveals a truly masterful mind through writing that is sharp, fresh, and clear.

ROMAN CIVIL WAR

      What does it mean to “cross the Rubicon”?

      In 49 B.C.E., Caesar