I Came, I Saw, I Blogged Part 2

Julius Caesar: The Man Who Insisted On Changing The World

(Years Covered: 59BC - 52BC)

 

With the First Triumvirate formed the gun was loaded, all they had to do was fire. At least that was Crassus and Pompey's initial reaction. But Caesar, the clear lead among them, insisted in holding back for now. For sometime they even kept Pompey's involvement secret as Caesar built up tensions within the Senate. Sure Crassus had the money, but he wasn't "the Senate"; sure Pompey was popular among all the legions, but he technically was in direct command of only those legions on the Italian peninsula. And while Caesar was extremely popular, he did not have an unquestioning love from the majority of the people. In fact, Cato had developed a skilled campaign convincing segments of the population that while Caesar's reforms sounded great the empire was not quit there yet to implement them; to keep the status quo until such time the world had caught up to "Honorable" Caesar's ideas. Unbeknownst to the Triumvirate at the time, it was the great orator Cicero's words coming out of Cato's mouth. Caesar needed to expose the Senate for the greedy old men they were and he needed some crises or development to bring more of the empires military under the Triumvirate's sphere of influence.

As to the first part, two pieces of legislation would help to cripple Cato's (and Cicero's) campaign. The first was a proposal to help ease employment that had started to become a real problem in Rome and the surrounding countryside. The new law would limit the number of slaves an individual was allowed to employee, that for every 2 slaves working a field a freeman must be hired to work it as well. The proposal was immediately shot down by Cato and the conservatives, but the real nail in the coffin was Cicero's speech. He had claimed that the"dignity of freeman would be forever tarnished if they were to work alongside slaves...as Romans we are men of virtue and honor, which must come before all other things as base as money." This had been a particularly personal blow for Caesar as this was a reform he had been enthusiastic to deploy since first entering public office. But it was not a total loss as it had confirmed his suspicions that Cicero was leading the moderates to the conservatives slowly, in a way the rest my not even realize; and that it was Cicero propping up Cato, "Why I had not seen it before I cannot say, but of course it was Cicero's words of honey coming forth from the old man so often filled with vinegar". It was time to release one last political weapon, one that could break this alliance and turn the whole of the Senate upside down, breaking an over 100 year old tradition.  Lets all say it again, fortune favors the bold.

The proposal was simple and, on paper, inoffensive to anyone. To take portions of "public" land throughout the peninsula and distribute it among some of the poor. That those utilizing the land without the "official" consent of the Senate be removed, by force if necessary. It was a populist proposal of the highest degree. One that even Cicero could not find a lawfully or virtuous excuse to oppose, pushing the moderate vote toward Caesar. But Cato's conservatives could not let it stand. While the land was public it was an unwritten rule that senators and other patricians with connections in the Senate were using a lot of this laid to line their own pockets. Patricians have undeclarativly been reaping the benefits of these lands for years if not decades. The conservatives did not have the numbers to oppose the measure, however the pleb consul, Marcus Bibulus let it be known that upon the opening of the next session he would be using his consular veto to "protect" an honor system Caesar was brazenly trying to break. But Marcus would not make it to the Senate chamber, an angry mob bent on seeing this law passed, waylaid him and his entourage, including several armed bodyguards. Just as it looked as a full scale riot was to break out between the two groups, a group of soldiers under the command of Pompey arrived. All involved thought the soldiers were their to maintain order and allow the consul to pass to continue the "business of the Senate". Instead they separated Marcus's bodyguards from the crowd, confiscated and broke their weapons, accusing them of attempting to draw blood within the hallowed walls of the Senate (blatant lie as everyone knew the weapons were ceremonial). The crowd unleashed, they harangued Marcus, dumped a bucket of shall we say outhouse offerings on his head and ran him out of town, never to return. For the rest of the consular term the satirists would refer to it as the consulship of Julius and Caesar.

Atia (top left), Servilla (top right), Octavius (bottom left), Brutus (bottom right)

Also during this time, Caesar and his new wife were plagued with a number of still births and miscarriages. Caesar, we know through his writings was privately distraught and even questioned his ambitions for the empire if he could not even continue the Julia clan. He toyed with the idea of divorcing Calpurnia, on the grounds that the childless marriage was proof of the gods disapproval of the union. This would then allow him to marry his love Servilla, adopting Marcus Brutus as his son and heir. But such a move would risk his alliance and friendship with Crassus. He looked to the scattered branches of his family and found a solution. His newly widowed niece Atia and her children were living off her husbands family, the patrician family of Octavii, having nothing of her own. He raised her up into a high position within the Julia (to some degree 2nd only to himself in family matters, even over Calpurnia), gave her an estate of her own and a very generous stipen and income producing holdings. The Caveat, she must spare no expense on her son, his great nephew Gaius Octavius's education, and that he would be the unquestionable heir to the Julia, forsaking the Octavii. This created a rivalry between Atia and Servilla who both wanted Caesar's attention focused on their own sons.

 

Cisalpine, Illyricum, and Gallia Narbonensis

 Meanwhile the whole incident with the Senate had the desired effect of breaking the incorruptible image of Cato and it had endeared Caesar even more to the lowly masses throughout all of Italy. But it was not without its consequences: it had exposed Pompey's new allegiance and made public the until then shadowy Triumvirate, and it had made clear to all the patricians, whether ally, foe, or undecided what exactly was going on, the very foundations of traditional Roman society and governance were being challenged. Being the front man, a clear target was now painted on Caesar's back. Accusations, legal challenges, investigations, the opposition was in full court press to take down Caesar by any means necessary. Again, sounds awfully familiar, but I digress. It was taking its toll on Caesar's agenda and on Crassus's treasury. The Triumvirate needed to take some of the heat off Caesar until they can conjure up their next move. Their answer was inspired, and would kill two birds with one stone: get Caesar the political protection he needed and get more legions under their thumb. With the help of senators allied with Caesar and Cicero's moderates who saw a need for a cool down period within the Senate, Caesar was "offered" the governorship of the provinces of Cisalpine (northern Italy and the Alps), Illyricum (Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia), and Gallia Narbonensis (southern French coast). Being a governor it made Caesar immune to prosecution for at least a five year period and while the provinces given were just wild frontiers they had a combined 4 legions between them. Between those, the Italian legions loyal to Pompey and the Hispania legions that still held Caesar in high regard, that was a sizable chunk of the Roman military structure in the western half of the empire. Meanwhile, as Caesar left to take command of his new territories, arrangements were made to have Pompey and Crassus "elected" as the next consuls.

Gallic Celts

Caesar spent huge sums of money trying to "civilize" his provinces; distance and politics made it difficult for Crassus to send him more funds. Again Caesar was starting to run up enormous debt. Time and money running out, Caesar needed to make his next move soon, when the answer landed in his lap. Gaul (the rest of France) was an unstable land of feuding Gallic Celtic tribes. Confederacies of tribes would rise and fall constantly making it difficult for the Romans to trade and acquire resources from the region. Though one tribe of Gauls, the Aedui, had been the one stable faction the Romans relied upon in that land. That is until they too were caught up in the inter tribal conflicts, and at the battle of Magetobriga a combined force of three other tribes and Germanic mercenaries defeated this once militarily and economically powerful ally of Rome, driving them off their lands and into the waiting arms of an opportunistic Caesar.

The Aedui appealed to the Senate for aid and so Caesar was sent with two of his legions and two newly created legions to reclaim the Aedui lands. He easily dispatched the token force left there; the enemy had not yet fortified their new holdings due again to inter tribal disagreements of how it was to be split up. What happened next is a bit of Chicken and the egg, what happened first scenario, the tribes of north east Gaul armed themselves for possible invasion and Caesar called in his other two legions to secure the Aedui lands. Caesar claims that the Gauls and Germans were planning to force-ably migrate south into the Alps and beyond into northern Italy. The Gauls claimed they were preparing to preemptively strike at the foreign invaders. Whoever was responsible for the military build up, it would be Caesar who strikes first, that for the safety of Rome, Chaotic Gaul most be brought to heel. Many in the Senate accused him of military adventurism but by then it was too late, Caesar had marched straight through Gaul, defeating Gallic war-bands piecemeal along the way until he hit the northern shore. He even went so far as to build a bridge over the Rhine in record speed, attack the Germans as a show of force and warning not to get involved, went back over the Rhine and destroyed the bridge. This quick pace engineering and construction would come in handy again, wait and see. The people of Rome, tired of years upon years of Romans fighting Romans, thrilled at the tales of conquest of barbarian hordes, harkening back to good old days of expansion against foreign rivals, like the Hannibal's Carthaginians or the Greeks of King Pyrrhic. It also helped that Caesar, little by little, was sending trinkets and baubles, minor spoils back down to Rome and distributed to the crowds. During this campaign two men would never leave Caesar's side, his right hand man and good friend Mark Anthony and the young man he was taking under his wing to tutor him in the art of war and leadership, Marcus Brutus.

 Roman and Briton Celt First Contact

People were also amazed at the tales of Caesar going were no Roman had gone before, across the sea to the mysterious lands of the Britannia. This is a bit of an odd duck in the sequence of events. It seems Caesar at one point in the Gallic campaign crossed the English channel with only half a legion, drawn to the tales of Briton Celts lush resource rich land. He establishes a makeshift beachhead, travels only a few miles inland and makes connect with one of the Briton Celt tribes. He then proceeds to plant his standard and proclaim to the Britons that they are now all under the protection and rule of the Roman empire. He then laid out for them routes and contacts to establish trade with Roman Gaul. The confused Celts, not sure how to respond, then watched as the Romans leave to the man, leaving nothing but the planted standard behind. They shrug their shoulders and go on with their lives. This did lead to some trade in the proceeding years but the Briton Celts would not hear from the Roman legions, leadership, or bureaucracy again until Emperor Claudius's invasion in 43AD. Though there is no record of what happened to the standard left behind it would be interesting to know whether the Brits left it there as a curiosity and reminder of the strange encounter.

Meanwhile back in Rome the first cracks in the Triumvirate started to form. Caesar's Gaul adventures had made him monstrously rich, enough so that he paid off all his new debts, sent spoils back to Rome, and still had plenty of left over in his constantly renewing war chest. Caesar and his well paid troops were taking Gaul for all its worth. This made Crassus nervous and jealous, worried that Caesar may no longer need him and just like Pompey did to him during the Spartacus Revolt, elbow him out of prestige and glory. He arranged to take his promised governorship, he took Syria. This province had the potential for inexhaustible wealth being Romes doorway to the silk road, and the potential for military glory as the veteran legions there were under constant vigilance against Romes new rival, the Parthian empire. Just as he settled into his new position he declared his intention to invade Parthia without provocation. He was offered an alliance by King Artavasdes II of Armenia in exchange that the invasion happen from Armenia's borders north of Parthia, instead of a straight on assault across the Euphrates river from Syria. But Crassus fearing to have glory stolen from him again foolishly refused and marched onto the Euphrates. The campaign was a disaster from the start culminating in the route of Roman forces at the Battle of Carrahe, resulting in the death of Crassus son Pleblius. A few days later Crassus's men would mutiny and offer up Crassus's head to the Parthians in exchange to escape back across Roman borders.

 

Carrahe

The bad news continued for Caesar as word spread that the Gauls had come to a grand alliance under the command of Vercingetorix, the chieftain of the Arverni tribe. While Caesar was in the north Vercingetorix's forces raided the Roman supply chains in the south, forcing Caesar to come down and face this new, organized, Gallic army. The two armies finally meet at the Battle of Gergovia. After a rushed and forced march south, the exhausted Romans decided to dig in and siege the hill town, into the sides of the hill they dug trenches and constructed other fortifications. Somehow Vercingetorix's emissaries got into the camp and made deals with some of the nobles of the Aedui tribe to turn on their Roman allies, with promises of gold and visions of a united and powerful Gaul. The Romans awoke to war in their own camp as half of the Aedui attacked the other half. As the Romans started to bring the camp under control a Gallic force of rebel Aedui and Vercingetorix's Arverni plundered the incoming supply shipment. Caesar realizing that without those supplies his siege was unattainable broke off and retreated. It was a major moral boosting victory for the Gauls.

The city of Gergovia and Vercingetorix

For the next year Vercingetorix and Caesar would play a cat and mouse game across all of Gaul. the two armies chasing each, Caesar would break off pieces of the Gauls, while Vercingetorix convinced more and more Adieu to abandon the Romans. Vercingetorix also engaged in a scorched earth campaign so Caesar would never be able to rely on local supplies, always dependent on long supply lines from the south. After a fierce and deadly cavalry battle (location unknown by historians) with no clear winner the two armies broke off. Vercingetorix headed for the city of Alesia, Caesar's commanders demanded hot pursuit so the enemy would not have enough time to fortify or call reinforcements, but Caesar had other plans. Need I remind you of our go to motto, Fortune Favors the Bold.

Caesar trailed behind Vercingetorix just enough to confirm in the Gaul's mind that a siege of his destination was coming. This gave him ample time to send messengers out to call in Gallic forces from around the region. When the Romans did arrive Caesar, who seemed in no hurry to get there, then set his men at a furious break neck pace to prepare for what many historians call one of the most brilliant strategies in the history of warfare. He encircled the city and built siege fortifications, he then had a second ring of fortifications built protecting his rear, creating a doughnut shaped encampment to keep the people of Alesia in and relief forces out. The outer fortification consisted of two 20 ft. deep trenches, one of which was filled with water from the river, then the 12 ft. high walls with ramparts, parapets and turrets. The watchers in the towers were able to communicate with each other were an attacks from within and from without would come. This communication allowed Caesar, Anthony, and another commander by the name of  Caius Trebonius, each placed equal distant from another, to direct troops and other resources to the location of attacks. The Gauls attacked repeatedly but could not gain an upper hand due to this perfected strategy of resource management from within the doughnut. The Gauls were getting desperate as the city did not have enough supplies to last much longer. Unlike the Romans, they had woman and children to feed and couldn't just tell them to solider up, meanwhile the legions are trained for strict rationing. On top of that word had reach the Gauls that a Roman cavalry unit would arrive within a day or two. One last desperate attempt was made to coordinate a dual attack from both the forces in and out of the city, at a point they thought the Roman camp would be at its weakest. Unfortunately for the Gauls their was a miscommunication between the two forces of where that spot for joint attack should be. The outer forces attacked the north while the city forces attacked the south. Without a combined effort the attack made little headway before the Roman cavalry arrived routing the Gauls' outer forces. Caesar had taken a gamble to draw the vast majority of the elusive Gallic forces into one location and defeated them in one battle. 60,000 legionnaires defeated the 80,000 Gauls besieged and the 180,000 Gaul relief force. The speed and skill in which the Romans built their defense and how effectively they communicated and command deployed its forces is still marveled at by historians today. Vercingetorix surrendered, throwing down his arms at the feet of Caesar. In the years to come he would eventually be taken back to Rome paraded around streets as the defeated "barbarian king" and finally strangled to death in prison, his body tossed into the river like trash. An ignoble death meant to be a chilling message to all who would challenged the might of Rome.