R. Peake - Marching With Caesar - Conquest of Gaul

The next morning we broke camp, except instead of pursuing the Belgae army, which was not taking the most direct route back to their homelands but were retracing their steps back to where they left their respective baggage trains, Caesar used this as an opportunity to press the attack on just one of the hostile tribes. To that end, he picked the Suessiones and their stronghold at Noviodunum, to the west of our camp along the Axona. It was a hard day’s march away, despite the route being along the river and the trek along level ground, so we were extremely tired by the time we arrived within sight of the walls of the town. Wanting to take advantage of the absence of most of the Suessiones fighting men, since only a few of the older and less bold warriors were left to guard the walls, Caesar had us ground our gear and immediately formed for an assault. Ladders were quickly made, and before perhaps a third of a watch had elapsed from our arrival, we were marching towards the walls, preparing to storm the town. When we drew near, however, it became apparent that ladders would not be enough, because the walls were much higher than they looked from a distance. Compounding the problem was that the ditch was also much wider than we anticipated as well, so we were ordered back to our gear, and despite our fatigue from the march and the hurried preparations for assault, began building a marching camp. Once we finished, we were given just enough time to eat our evening meal before we were given orders to start creating proper siegeworks. Marching to the nearby forest in torchlight, we began felling trees, working for almost a full watch before being allowed to retire for the night. Falling on our cots completely exhausted, most of us did not bother to remove our armor or boots, yet that did not stop any of us from falling asleep immediately.

The next day we arose before dawn to begin in earnest the work of creating the proper equipment to storm the town. Mantlets were created, small huts on wheels that are rolled up to the wall of the besieged town, with sturdy roofs and sides usually covered in wicker or green hides to protect the men working from within, who are either undermining the wall or using a ram to break through. In addition, siege towers were built, and we worked rapidly as the Suessiones could only watch from the walls helplessly. During that first night, the Suessiones war party had returned and since we had not yet encircled the town they were able to enter, so the walls were now crowded with their warriors, yet they were as impotent to stop us as the common citizens of the town. By midday, the towers were nearing completion, built taller than the walls to enable the men who would conduct the assault to effectively run downhill and onto the parapet. There were levels built into the towers where the missile troops and even a scorpion could rake the walls with fire as the tower was pushed into place on huge rollers made out of several of the largest trees that we could find. Another group of men filled the moat up with dirt to provide a path for the towers to be brought to the walls, using large wicker shields called fascines to shelter behind while they worked. The speed at which these preparations were made always astonished even us, but it was no less fearsome and impressive to the Suessiones. Just as we were beginning to roll the two towers into place, and the men working inside the mantlets were dragging their rams to use on the base of the walls, the Suessiones signaled that they wanted to talk, doing so just before the rams actually touched the walls, since that would have been too late. The gates opened and a small group of men, most of them older, with gray in their hair and beards, came out under a flag of truce, asking to speak to Caesar. Our general rode to meet them, dismounting as a courtesy, and listened to their pleas for mercy. Accompanying Caesar was a Remi, who I later learned was Iccius, having come from Bibrax with Caesar when he relieved the town, and the Suessiones begged for him to intercede with Caesar and speak on their behalf, which he did. Caesar agreed to accept their surrender, demanding hostages for security, which they provided immediately, the town surrendering without a single life lost.

“So why did we go to all that trouble if they were just going to piss themselves at the sight of our towers?” grumbled Vibius.

I nodded in agreement; that was a lot of sweat gone to waste, at least from the way we saw it. This might sound strange to one who has never been a soldier, but a town that surrendered meant there was no chance for a Legionary to improve himself, either by feats of bravery or by more coin in his purse. This was how Caesar managed to pull himself out of debt when he was governor of Hispania, when the towns surrendered to him one after the other. It became immediately clear that it was this that bothered Vibius more than anything else.

“Besides, hasn’t he made enough money already? Shouldn’t we have the chance to get something for ourselves? I bet he planned this all along with that Remi bastard.”

I glanced at Vibius in surprise, sure that he was in jest, yet his face was deadly serious. “Do you honestly believe that Caesar orchestrated all this, that he arranged for the Suessiones to surrender but still had us do all that work?” I asked incredulously.

When I put it like that, it made Vibius reluctant to agree, but I could see that I had not really convinced him. He just shrugged and said, “I wouldn’t put it past him,” then looked away, a clear sign that he was done with the subject. I opened my mouth to argue the point, then thought better of it; there was no reasoning with Vibius once he made up his mind, and it was clear that he had formed an opinion that he regarded as fact. All I could do was shake my head.

Once the hostages were handed over and the Suessiones’ weapons were confiscated, we turned west again, this time heading for the territory of the Bellovaci, following the Axona until it ran into the Isara (Isar) River, which the Axona flows into as the former runs in a north/south orientation. Crossing the Isara, we made camp for the night, then set out the next day for the main town of the Bellovaci, called Bratuspantium, arriving there shortly after midday. This time we did not even need to build any siege equipment, the headman of the town opening their gates in submission the moment we marched into view. The Aedui Diviciacus had joined the army by this time, and like Iccius, he pleaded the case for the Bellovaci, guaranteeing their good conduct. Like with the Suessiones, Caesar treated this town with clemency, demanding only hostages, and like the Suessiones, they were disarmed. Spending the night encamped next to the town, we did so with a double shift of guards on the walls of the camp, although I suspect that this was as much about keeping the soldiers from sneaking into the town as it was to guard against a surprise attack. Once again we set out the next morning, still heading west although turning a little more to the north, to the Ambiani town of Samarobriva. Word of our arrival preceded us, and like the Bellovaci, the Ambiani were waiting with a delegation of elders to offer their submission to Rome. The same terms applied, with the exception that Caesar did not disarm the Ambiani, deeming them not enough of a threat to us to worry about. Taking on even more hostages, they joined what had become a part of our train, guarded in the middle of the marching column by whichever Legion happened to be scheduled to be next to them on that day. By this time there were 200 or 300 of them, and since most of the hostages were of noble birth, they of course could not travel without their own retinue, so between servants, slaves, and other sorts of retainers, there were probably 1,000 people in that group, making them hard to manage, as we would learn.