nt stand made
by the Gauls in defence of their native land; or the great and admirable
genius of Caesar, nowhere displayed so greatly as in his Gaulish
campaigns, though perfidy sometimes tainted his councils, and torrents
of innocent blood too often stained his arms. Suffice it to say, that
after three campaigns, the north and west had submitted to his forces,
and he had made his first descent on the British shores. In his fourth
campaign he undertook his second expedition against Britain, and subdued
some more of the continental tribes. But a general movement now took
place over nearly the whole of Gaul against the Romans, who at first
suffered some severe checks; but the military skill of Caesar, in the
course of a fifth campaign, again triumphed. Though so often vanquished,
these brave people were not yet subdued. A new league was entered into
by their cities; the war broke out afresh; and an able general,
Vercingeto-rix, now directed their movements. It was during the course
of his sixth campaign, which now followed, that Caesar ran the greatest
danger and achieved the greatest triumphs. The surprise of Genatum, the
capture of Avaricum, seemed at first to promise a speedy victory to his
arms; but a repulse which he suffered before the walls of Geronia was
the signal for the whole of Gaul to unite with the insurgents. A victory
which he gained over Vercingeto-rix soon afterwards, checked for the
moment, but did not dispirit, the Gauls; and the whole weight of the war
was soon collected around the ramparts of Alexia. Both parties felt that
the contest which would now ensue must decide the fate of the campaign,
and both made the most strenuous exertions to prepare for it. The
gigantic lines of Caesar were soon surrounded by the whole force of the
enemy, and a combined attack was made upon them both from within and
without. Great and imminent was the peril; but the steadiness of the
legions, and the gallantry of their chief, surmounted it, and the
banners of Rome finally waved triumphant over the hard-fought field. The
fruits of this victory were immense. Alexia capitulated; the Gaulish
nations who had been most active in the war submitted; and
Vercingeto-rix was given up to the conquerors. Yet was a great part of
the country still unsubdued; and when in the ensuing year, B.C. 51,
Caesar took the field in his seventh and last campaign in this country,
he found a powerful and numerous confederacy in arms. Taught by the
e