Caesar on the First Germanic Campaign
Gaius Julius Caesar (13 July 100 - 15 March 44 BCE), Roman statesman, general, author, famous for the conquest of Gaul (modern France and Belgium) and his subsequent coup d'état. He changed the Roman republic into a monarchy and laid the foundations of a truly Mediterranean empire.
In the spring of 55 BCE, Julius Caesar's soldiers attacked a large group of Germanic refugees during an armistice. Many people, belonging to the tribes of the Usipetes and Tencteri, were massacred (text). The Roman Senate discussed this shameful behavior, and Caesar dedided to divert the Senate's attention. During the early summer, he crossed the Rhine and invaded Germania; later, he even invaded Britain. These operations had little military purpose, but the Senate was impressed and that was what mattered.
The translation of Caesar's War in Gaul 4.16-19 was made by Anne and Peter Wiseman.
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[4.16.1] With the German war concluded,note I decided that I must cross the Rhine. Several reasons prompted me. The strongest was that I could see the Germans were all too ready to cross into Gaul, and I wanted them to have reasons of their own for anxiety when they realized that an army of the Roman people could and would cross the Rhine. |
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[4.16.2] There was also the fact that the section of cavalry of the Usipetes and the Tencteri, which, as I have already mentioned, had crossed the Meuse in search of plunder and grain and so had not taken part in the battle, had crossed the Rhine after the rout of their countrymen, entered the territory of the Sugambri and joined forces with them.note |
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[4.16.3] When I sent messengers to the Sugambri to demand the surrender of those who had made war on me and on Gaul, they replied that the Rhine was the limit of Roman power: |
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[4.16.4] if I thought the Germans had no right to cross into Gaul against my will, why should I claim any power or authority on the German side of the Rhine? |
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[4.16.5] Then too there was the fact that the Ubians - the only tribe across the Rhine who had sent envoys to me, established ties of friendship, and given hostages - were urgently begging me to go to their help because they were being severely harassed by the Suebians.note |
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[4.16.6] If it was impossible for me to do that because of political preoccuparations, they asked me merely to take my army across the Rhine; that would be enough to give them help and provide them with confidence for the future. [...] |
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[4.16.8] They promised to provide a large number of boats to get the army across the river. |