it, he placed together
(opposite to the enemy) all that timber which was cut down, and piled it
up as a rampart on either flank. When a great space had been, with
incredible speed, cleared in a few days, when the cattle [of the enemy]
and the rear of their baggage-train were already seized by our men, and
they themselves were seeking for the thickest parts of the forests,
storms of such a kind came on that the work was necessarily suspended,
and, through the continuance of the rains, the soldiers could not any
longer remain in their tents. Therefore, having laid waste all their
country, [and] having burnt their villages and houses, Caesar led back
his army and stationed them in winter-quarters among the Aulerci and
Lexovii, and the other states which had made war upon him last.

BOOK IV

I.-The following winter (this was the year in which Cn. Pompey and M.
Crassus were consuls), those Germans [called] the Usipetes, and likewise
the Tenchtheri, with a great number of men, crossed the Rhine, not far
from the place at which that river discharges itself into the sea. The
motive for crossing [that river] was that, having been for several years
harassed by the Suevi, they were constantly engaged in war, and hindered
from the pursuits of agriculture. The nation of the Suevi is by far the
largest and the most warlike nation of all the Germans. They are said to
possess a hundred cantons, from each of which they yearly send from
their territories for the purpose of war a thousand armed men: the
others who remain at home, maintain [both] themselves and those engaged
in the expedition. The latter again, in their turn, are in arms the year
after: the former remain at home. Thus neither husbandry nor the art and
practice of war are neglected. But among them there exists no private
and separate land; nor are they permitted to remain more than one year
in one place for the purpose of residence. They do not live much on
corn, but subsist for the most part on milk and flesh, and are much
[engaged] in hunting; which circumstance must, by the nature of their
food, and by their daily exercise and the freedom of their life (for
having from boyhood been accustomed to no employment, or discipline,
they do nothing at all contrary to their inclination), both promote
their strength and render them men of vast stature of body. And to such
a habit have they brought themselves, that even in the coldest parts
they wear no clothing whatever excep