Caesar Book 5 Summary

Book 5 (54 BCE) of de Bello Gallico involves a second invasion of Britain and the rise of one of Caesar's best opponents: Ambiorix.A new year (54 BCE) and new consuls (Lucius Domitius and Appius Claudius). Caesar had just returned from his first expedition to Britain. Quintus Titurius Sabinus and Lucius Cotta had just returned from a punitive campaign against the Menapii and settled into their winter quarters among the Belgae. Because of Caesar's exploits, twenty days of thanksgiving were celebrated back in Rome.

Caesar made his annual trip back to Cisalpine Gaul in order to fulfill his obligations as a judge. He ordered his legati staying in Gaul to start building ships and repair the old ones. Caesar gave blueprints for the ships he wanted built--specifically built to handle the rougher seas of the English channel and the North Sea, while equipping them both for rowing and for sailing. He was going back to Britain.

After handling court in Cisalpine Gaul, Caesar went east to Illyricum to deal with raids from the Pirustae. When the Pirustae raiders found out Caesar had arrived, they begged for clemency. He demanded hostages, which were given. He also appointed judges to oversee the various lawsuits that would result from damaged and stolen property.

He stopped by nearer Gaul before heading back to the armies. He was delighted to find 600 transport ships and 28 warships had been constructed. He would leave from the closest port and land at the nearest section of Britannia. Leaving behind some troops, he took 20,000 infantry and 8,000 cavalry (an order of magnitude larger than his original expeditionary force). He then went to the Treveri, the strongest military power in Gaul, who were stirring up trouble and refusing to meet in assemblies with Caesar.

Two men, Indutiomarus and Cingetorix, were the most powerful men among the Treveri. The two men were intense rivals, and Cingetorix hoped to gain advantage by seeking closer ties to the Romans, while Indutiomarus had a more pro-German stance. When the rest of the Treveri seemed to side with Caesar, Indutiomarus reluctantly came over to Caesar.

In a move meant to keep Indutiomarus out of trouble and to get his campaign in Britain underway, he ordered Indutiomarus and 200 hostages to join the expedition while leaving Cingetorix in charge of the territory. This infuriated Indutiomarus.

Caesar went to Portus Itius where his ships were docked. He assembled a cavalry division of 4,000 Gallic nobles to help keep Gaul calm in Caesar's absence. Among these was Dumnorix the Aeduan, who was trying to claim Caesar gave him control over all of Gaul. Dumnorix argued with Caesar about going, giving excuse after excuse, while trying to convince Gallic chieftains that the expedition was a plot to kill them all. Caesar was informed and ordered Dumnorix to be spied upon. Just as the fleet was beginning to sail after a nearly month-long delay, Dumnorix fled without Caesar's knowledge. Caesar stopped the expedition and ordered Dumnorix captured, dead or alive. In a final stand, Dumnorix was cut down by Roman troops, and Dumnorix's Aeduan cavalry obediently returned to Caesar's side.

Labienus was left on the mainland as legatus, and Caesar's expedition set off. Caesar overshot his landing destination and the fleet had to row back, but they landed safely with no enemies on the beach awaiting them. Prisoners told Caesar that the British had been waiting, but when they saw the massive fleet they fled. Caesar also learned where the enemy was camped and set out after them, leaving Quintus Atrius in charge. A battle with the Britons followed, during with the 7th legion formed a testudo to take the enemy stronghold to win the battle.

After the battle, news came that a storm had damaged almost all of Caesar's new fleet. Caesar went back to the ships and discovered all but 40 ships were able to be repaired. He put a contingent of workmen on the job of repairing the ships that were on the job night and day for ten days straight. This gave time for the Britons to gather larger forces led by the chieftain Cassivellaunus.

Caesar pauses here to discuss the human and natural abundance in Britannia--in particular, tin, lumber, and a dense inland population. As a fun sidenote, Caesar also notes that hares, chicken, and geese are considered pets rather than food. He also lays out some rudimentary geography. He describes the Kentish (south eastern coast of Great Britain) as the most civilized inhabitants of the island, while further inland, their customs are more unfamiliar.

The British made a new attack in which a tribune, Quintus Laberius Durus was killed. Caesar noted the heavy armor of the Romans was weak against smaller, swift-moving, successive cavalry charges. A foraging party was attacked the next day, but the Britons were fought off. The next day, Caesar made a surprise crossing of the Thames that broke the spirit of the British assault under Cassivellaunus' command. A British tribe, the Trinobantes, led by Mandubracius, defected to Caesar. This led to tribes surrendering en masse.

Another British assault occurred but was repelled by Caesar's forced before Cassivellaunus made a final push. He asked the four kings of the Kentish tribes to join the fight, but when they approached Caesar's camp, his forces attacked, captured one of the four kings, and sent the enemy retreating without much difficulty. Cassivellaunus gave up, and using Commius the Atrebatian as a go-between, surrendered to Caesar.

Caesar went back to his coastal camp with a huge number of new prisoners and hostages. This was a problem, as he now needed to transport more people but had fewer ships. Caesar mentions that not a single ship with soldiers on it had been lost in the past two years (it seems he could not resist defending his questionable naval skills somehow). He decided to ship everyone over in two shifts. There were a few ships he hoped would come from the mainland, to help make the two-wave transportation easier, but all the additional ships didn't reach the camp. Thus, Caesar crammed men in the ships even more densely than normal, which could spell disaster if a ship sank. After launching around midnight, the ships all made it safely back to the mainland.

The ships from Britannia were beached, and the Gallic leaders left behind were in assembly--things looked to be in order; however, the grain supply was particularly low, so Caesar had to distribute his forces for the winter:

• Gaius Fabius + 5,000 men in Morini territory.

• Q. Cicero + 5,000 men in Nervii territory

• L. Roscius + 5,000 men in Esubian territory

• T. Labienus + 5,000 men in Remi (near the Treveri)

• M. Crassus + L. Plancus + G. Trebonius + 15,000 men in Belgica

• Q. Titurius Sabinus + L. Aurunculeius Cotta 7,500 men in Eburones territory, a region ruled by Ambiorix and Catuvolcus.

Caeasr felt this idea was the best way to ensure the food supply would last. To ensure the troops weren't too scattered, all the armies (with Roscius' being the exception) were within 100 miles of one another. Caesar stayed in Gaul until all the camps were fortified (rather than his normal winter trip to Cisalpine Gaul to act as judge).

A Gallic ally named Tasgetius was killed, so Caesar sent Plancus with 5,000 men to arrest the conspirators and deal out justice. About two weeks into the Romans making camp for the winter, Ambiorix and Catuvolcus enact a plot. Urged on by Indutiomarus, Ambiorix and Catuvolcus attack a wood-foraging party, but the Romans get away. One of the Eburones shout that they had critical information they wanted to share with the Romans. Gaius Arpineius and a Spaniard named Quintus Junius met with Ambiorix.

Ambiorix spent some time flattering Caesar's beneficence, and downplayed his own power among the Eburones. He stated the Gauls were planning to attack all of Caesar's camps at once, and a huge Germanic force was coming to crush the Roman forces one by one (this is all a lie).

The mediators Arpineius and Junius rellay this information, and an argument breaks out: Cotta and his supporters suggest waiting for Caesar's orders, while Sabinus and his supporters argue for immediate action. It was agreed by all that the legion as a whole that they should be unified in whatever path they chose. Cotta finally gave in, and the legion prepared to move out at dawn.

The Eburones ambush came as a complete shock. Sabinus was slow to respond and clearly terrified, but Cotta acted decisively and with courage. But it was not enough. The order went out to form a defensive circle and abandon gear--soldiers instead scrambled to grab their own gear while panicking over the attack. The army might have been able to force their way out, but the number of missiles made escape almost impossible. Officers begin to fall to injury and death. Cotta in particular took a projectile to the face.

Sabinus, one of the last few officers standing, begged for a surrender. Ambiorix promised safe passage. Cotta, somehow still alive, said any negotiation with Ambiorix would end in all their deaths. Sabinus went anyway, and as soon as Ambiorix made the Romans drop their weapons, Sabinus and the rest of those who came to beg for mercy were slaughtered. The standard-bearer Lucius Petrosidius threw the standard over the defensive wall of the Roman camp to ensure its safety before himself dying in battle. The few survivors made it to Labienus' camp and relayed all the occurred (hence why Caesar can relay this account).

Ambiorix, delighted at his success in taking out one camp, gained allies and support for his next attack on Cicero's camp. Upon his wood-cutters and the legion itself being attacked, Cicero sent a message to Caesar, but messages were intercepted. The Romans build and repaired defensive fortifications, and the Gauls attacked. The pattern of attack and re-defend occurred day after day, and the Romans were slowly succumbing to wounds and exhaustion. The Gauls offered talks, but Cicero did not take the bait. On day seven, the Gauls used flaming projectiles to burn Cicero's camp and prepared to rush the walls, but the Romans still fought on.

Two rival centurions, Pullo and Vorenus, go outside the camp and start fighting against the enemy. The two end up saving each other and getting back into the camp alive.

Messengers keep getting sent, but keep getting caught and tortured or killed in front of the walls. Finally, a Nervian Gaul named Vertico took the message, attached it to his spear, and made it to Caesar. When Caesar got the message, gathered up troops, and marched out to save Cicero and his men. He messaged Crassus, Fabius, and Labienus to join him on the march. Labienus could not join the fight because he was being attacked by the Treveri, and Caesar credited him for making the smart choice.

Caesar bribed a Gallic knight to deliver a message written in Greek characters (or maybe just in Greek--it's unclear) tied to a spear. The spear was thrown into the Roman camp, but was not noticed for two days. It was not until the third day that it was noticed and read by Cicero. By that time, smoke on the horizon indicated Caesar's arrival.

The Gauls, 60,000 strong, abandoned the siege and headed for Caesar's forces, roughly 7,000 men strong. Cicero sent a messenger to Caesar warning him of the fight. Caesar actually made the camp smaller than usual to make his forces seem even smaller, hoping to lull the Gauls into a false sense of his real strength. Cavalry skirmishes occurred, but no large-scale fighting began at the outset. Caesar intentionally made his troops rush around to look panicked by the Gallic forces.

Caesar's ruse worked, and the Gauls placed their forces so that Caesar had the advantage of the high ground. The Gauls rushed the camp, and to their surprise, Caesar's cavalry burst out from the gates and attacked so swiftly that the Gauls panicked and ran. The cavalry mowed down as many Gauls as they could without travelling too far from the safety of the camp. Caesar then headed for Cicero's camp to inspect the troops. Almost all (90% according to Caesar) the troops were injured from battle, and Caesar made the rounds, praising men and congratulating officers.

Caesar learned from prisoners about Cotta and Sabinus, then told the story to his armies at an assembly. Labienus soon learned of the victory, as did Indutiomarus. The latter canceled an attack planned the very next day on Labienus' camp and fled back to Treveri territoy.

Caesar placed his armies back in winter camps, on edge that the Gauls might rise up in revolt. Fortunately, Caesar's great victory kept the Gauls from launching another immediate attack.

During the remaining part of winter, the Senones tried to kill Caesar's choice of king, Cavarinus, but he escaped. The Senones tried to appease Caesar, but when Caesar ordered their entire Senate to assemble, they refused, and the Great Gallic Revolt began to form. Only the Aedui and the Remi tribes remained fully loyal to Caesar. The Gauls tried to bring over German forces, but the Germans were disinterested in another bloody conflict in Gaul.

Caesar briefly mentions how the Gauls muster for battle (the last man to arrive is tortured--punctuality counts.) Indutiomarus mustered forces, declared Cingetorix an enemy of the state and took his property. Indutiomarus' forces planned to attack Labienus' camp, then pillage the Remi territories. Cingetorix fled to Labienus, who summoned cavalry to aid in the coming battle.

Each day, Indutiomarus would go near the Roman camp, throw missiles and harass the legions, then eventually go back to his camp. After several days of this with no clear response from the Romans, Labienus made a surprise attack with the sole intent of killing Indutiomarus. Labienus ordered his men to attack no one until Indutiomarus was seen, and offered rewards to the men who killed him. Indutiomarus was caught and decapitated, and his rebellion dispersed.