said, to defy him in the open field; let him rather be followed in detail into every corner where he roamed for sustenance; above all, let the towns which served him for maga zines be destroyed by the hands of the inhabitants themselves. The effect of such a mode of resistance must be his speedy and disgraceful retreat, and with it the restoration of liberty to central Gaul, and to every other state that should have the spirit to make similar sacrifices.'

They consent

own towns, but

spare Avari

The assembled council of Gaulish states assented gallantly to this proposal. In one day twenty fortresses of the Bitu riges were levelled to the ground, and similar havoc was made throughout the territories of the to destroy their allies. But when the fate of Avaricum itself are induced to came to be discussed, whether it should be de- cum. fended or destroyed, the Bituriges could hold out no longer. Their deputies threw themselves at the feet of the assembled Gauls, and interceded with piteous cries for the preservation of their beautiful and, as they deemed, impregnable city. The hearts of the chieftains were moved to compassion. Vercingetorix at first sternly resisted representations which he knew to be delusive. But when the rest gave way, he at last yielded to the general clamour, and consented that the place should be maintained and an ample force assigned for its defence.

Romans.

The com

The site of Avaricum was admirably calculated for de fence. It stood on a hill, and a narrow causeway between a river and a morass afforded the only approach to Avaricum capit. These natural advantages had been improved tured by the by art, and the devoted garrison now proceeded to strengthen their defences within the walls. bined exertions of the Roman legions were applied to draw lines of circumvallation around them, while the principal force of the Gaulish league watched these operations at a short distance, and cut off the supplies destined by the Boii and Ædui for the hostile camp. While the Bituriges within their city were hard pressed by the machinery which the Roman engi

1 Cæs. B. G. vii. 20.

VOL. II.-2

2 Cæs. B. G. vii. 17.; Dion, xl. 34.

neers directed against their walls, the forces of the proconsul, on their side, were harassed by the fatigues of the siege and the scarcity of provisions. Cæsar is lavish of praise in speaking of the fortitude with which his soldiers bore their privations they refused to allow him to raise the siege; and when he at last led them against the enemy's army, and finding it too strongly posted for an attack, withdrew them again within their lines, they submitted to the disappointment, and betook themselves once more without a murmur to the tedious operations of the blockade. The skill of the assailants at length triumphed over the bravery of the defenders. The walls were approached by towers at various points, and mounds constructed against which the combustible missiles of the besieged were unavailing. Finally, a desperate sally was repulsed, and then, at last, the constancy of the Bituriges began to fail. Taking advantage of a moment when the watch on the walls had relaxed its vigilance, Cæsar marshalled his legions behind his works,' and poured them suddenly against the opposing ramparts. They gained the summit of the walls, which the defenders abandoned without a blow, rallying, however, in the middle of the town, in such hasty array as the emergency would allow. A bloody struggle ensued; both parties were numerous, and, still burning to avenge the massacre of their countrymen at Genabum, the assailants gave no quarter. The Gauls were routed and exterminated, their women and children mercilessly slaughtered, and the great central city of Gaul fell into the hands of the conquerors without affording a single captive for their triumph.

2

The influence of the champion of Gaulish independence, far from declining, rather gained strength by this disaster,

Vercingetorix revives the courage of the Gauls.

for he could represent that the defence of Avaricum had thwarted the policy he so warmly recommended, and to which, in that single instance, the allies had refused to accede. He now instructed his followers, abandoning their regular fortresses, to defend themselves

1 Cæs. B. G. vii. 27.: "Legiones intra vineas in occulto expeditas." Cæs. B. G. vii. 22-28.

with temporary works, according to the Roman practice, which the Gauls had never before adopted. Nor were the rest of the tribes discouraged: many reinforcements arrived, notwithstanding the great losses the cause had sustained; the numbers of the confederates were recruited by new levies, and the Romans found their enemy no less formidable than before in actual strength, and much more so in experience and confidence.

Vacillating conduct of the

Edui, and divisions among them interfe

rence of Cæsar.

Hitherto the Ædui had acted with great indecision. They had refused assistance to the Bituriges when that unfortunate people, urged to revolt by the Arvernians, had solicited their protection to enable them to remain faithful to Rome. This refusal, veiled by a flimsy pretext, had thrown the Bituriges into the arms of the confederates, and had brought upon them the destruction of their capital. The attack of Vercingetorix upon the Boii was intended to force the Ædui to a declaration of their sentiments; but Cæsar's sudden diversion on the north withdrew the enemy, and relieved them from this pressure. On the other hand, the proconsul complained that the provisions and stores he required came slowly and scantily to his camp, until the capture of Avaricum gave him abundant supplies. The counsels of the Ædui vacillated through internal divisions. At the commencement of the spring they held their annual election of a vergobret, and then these dissensions came to a head. While a faction among the chiefs tried to thrust into the office a noble of the name of Cotus, who, as brother of the late vergobret, was by the law excluded from it, the priests, at the head of the dominant party, selected a youth of birth and distinction, named in the Roman version of his Gaulish appellation Convictolitans. The rival candi dates appealed to Cæsar, and consented to abide by his decision. The popular party he probably considered the most favourable to his own policy, and their appointment he accordingly confirmed.' But, having performed this act of

1 There is some obscurity in Cæsar's account of this transaction (vii. 33.): "Intermissis magistratibus " I understand, with Hotoman, to refer to the law

friendly interference, he demanded his reward: he required the nation to co-operate vigorously with him, and to furnish him with a contingent of ten thousand men.

Having imposed these orders upon his clients, Cæsar proIceeded to divide his Roman forces into two armies. He placed four legions under the command of Lathe country of bienus, whom he charged to take up his quarters

Cæsar enters

the Arverni,

and lays siege to Gergovia.

in the country of the Senones, and from thence maintain the obedience of the central states; with the remaining six he crossed from the Loire to the Allier, intending to make his way to Gergovia of the Arverni. His vigilant enemy was not off his guard. Vercingetorix had broken the bridges and was guarding the fords of the latter river. If the energy of both commanders was equal, the skill of the Roman was superior. By a feigned movement he drew off his adversary's attention, and speedily restored the means of crossing. Cæsar's camp was always furnished with implements and workmen, and he owed much of his success to the skill of his engineers. He transported his army across the Allier with his usual celerity; and Vercingetorix, surprised to find his flank thus suddenly turned, cautiously and firmly declined a general engagement. Cæsar held his course along the left bank of the Allier towards Gergovia, the enemy retreating with no less steadiness before him.' He arrived before the ramparts on the fifth day, but was foiled in his turn by finding on inspection that the place was too strong in situation and defences to be captured by assault. It was impossible to form a regular siege until the necessary provision for the troops had been collected and

that two individuals of the same family should not succeed one another in the supreme magistracy.

1 The site of Gergovia of the Arverni is supposed to be a hill on the bank of the Allier, two miles from the modern Clermont in Auvergne. The Romans seem to have neglected Gergovia, and to have founded the neighbour ing city, to which they gave the name Augustonemetum. The Roman city became known afterwards as Civitas Arvernorum, in the middle ages Arverna, and then, from the situation of its castle, clarus mons, Clermont. See d'Anville, Notice de la Gaule, in voc.: Mannert, II. i. 131.

forwarded to the camp. He contented himself for the moment with a successful attack upon an important position in the neighbourhood, carrying it by a bold and skilful movement in the night.'

The Edui re

volt, massacre the Roman

settlers, are re

duced and pardoned.

Meanwhile, Convictolitans, the vergobret of the Ædui, had resolved to betray the patron to whom he owed his ap pointment, and to precipitate his country into war with the Romans. He took his measures with Litavicus, the commander of the levies which his nation had consented to send to Cæsar, and planned a scheme for deceiving the soldiers, and hurrying the people blindly into revolt. In the midst of their march Litavicus suddenly caused his men to halt, and brought forward certain persons whom he had instructed to announce that the proconsul had just put his Æduan hostages to the sword, and reserved the same fate for the very troops who were at that moment marching into his toils. The stratagem succeeded; the Æduans, seized with indignation, slew all the Romans within their reach, and Litavicus transmitted the news to Bibracte, with representations calculated to inflame the passions of the nation, and strengthen the hands of Convictolitans by committing it irrevocably to the Gaulish cause. A massacre of the Roman settlers ensued, as the ordinary preliminary of revolt. At this moment, the Æduans in the proconsul's camp, the same whom he was represented to have murdered, were contriving a plot for his destruction. The feebleness of one of the conspirators revealed the danger, and Cæsar marched forth with his usual decision to meet the troops of Litavicus, while they were still awaiting fresh orders from Bibracte. Instead of attacking and crushing them by force of arms, he showed them the persons of their countrymen, whose supposed assassination had excited them to revolt. Overwhelmed with surprise and terror, Litavicus threw himself on the proconsul's mercy. The soldiers disowned the authority of their general; the general disclaimed the acts of his government; every one hastened to plead for him2 Cæs. B. G. vii. 38.; Dion, xl. 37.

'Cæs. B. G. vii. 34-36.