of toil to no purpose in besieging them. [-36-] Their
fort was on a strong hill and they had strengthened it greatly with
walls; also the barbarians round about had seized all the high ground
and were keeping guard over it, so that if they remained in position
they could safely hold their own, and if they charged down they would
gain the greater advantage. For Caesar, not having any sure position to
choose, was encamped in the plain and never knew beforehand what was
going on: but the barbarians, higher up, could look down upon his camp
and kept making opportune charges. If they ever advanced farther than
was fitting and were beaten back, they quickly got within their own
domain again; and the Romans in no way could come as near to the places
as stones and javelins could be hurled. The time was in general spent
uselessly: often when he assaulted the very height upon which their
fortress was located, he would capture a certain portion of it so that
he could wall it in and continue thence more easily his progress against
the rest of it, but on the whole he met with reverses. He lost a number
of his soldiers, and saw that the enemy could not be captured. Moreover,
there was at this time an uprising among the Aedui, and while he was
absent attending to them, the men left behind fared badly. All these
considerations led Caesar to raise the siege.

[-37-] The Aedui in the beginning abode by their agreements and sent him
assistance, but later they made war rather involuntarily, being deceived
by Litaviccus and others. He, having been unable by any other course to
persuade them to adopt a hostile attitude, managed to get the
appointment of conveying some men to Caesar to be the latter's allies. He
started off as if to fulfill this mission, but sent ahead also some
horsemen and bade some of them return and say that their companions and
the rest of their men in the camp of the Romans had been arrested by the
latter and put to death. Then he further excited the wrath of his
soldiers by delivering a speech appropriate to the message. In this way
the Aedui themselves rose and led others to revolt with them. Caesar, as
soon as he ascertained this, sent to them the Aedui whom he had and was
thought to have slain, so that they might be seen by all to be alive,
and followed on with his cavalry. On this occasion, then, they repented
and made terms. [-38-] The Romans were later, by reason of Caesar's
absence, defeated close to Gergovia and