opponents, by
whom he had been expelled a short time previously. He is saluted king by
his partisans; he sends ambassadors in every direction, he conjures them
to adhere firmly to their promise. He quickly attaches to his interests
the Senones, Parisii, Pictones, Cadurci, Turones, Aulerci, Lemovice, and
all the others who border on the ocean; the supreme command is conferred
on him by unanimous consent. On obtaining this authority, he demands
hostages from all these states, he orders a fixed number of soldiers to
be sent to him immediately; he determines what quantity of arms each
state shall prepare at home, and before what time; he pays particular
attention to the cavalry. To the utmost vigilance he adds the utmost
rigour of authority; and by the severity of his punishments brings over
the wavering: for on the commission of a greater crime he puts the
perpetrators to death by fire and every sort of tortures; for a slighter
cause, he sends home the offenders with their ears cut off, or one of
their eyes put out, that they may be an example to the rest, and
frighten others by the severity of their punishment.

V.--Having quickly collected an army by their punishments, he sends
Lucterius, one of the Cadurci, a man of the utmost daring, with part of
his forces, into the territory of the Ruteni; and marches in person into
the country of the Bituriges. On his arrival, the Bituriges send
ambassadors to the Aedui, under whose protection they were, to solicit
aid in order that they might more easily resist the forces of the enemy.
The Aedui, by the advice of the lieutenants whom Caesar had left with
the army, send supplies of horse and foot to succour the Bituriges. When
they came to the river Loire, which separates the Bituriges from the
Aedui, they delayed a few days there, and, not daring to pass the river,
return home, and send back word to the lieutenants that they had
returned through fear of the treachery of the Bituriges, who, they
ascertained, had formed this design, that if the Aedui should cross the
river, the Bituriges on the one side, and the Arverni on the other,
should surround them. Whether they did this for the reason which they
alleged to the lieutenants, or influenced by treachery, we think that we
ought not to state as certain, because we have no proof. On their
departure, the Bituriges immediately unite themselves to the Arverni.

VI.--These affairs being announced to Caesar in Italy at the time when
he