Gallic War (Julius Caesar)

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	Gallic War Author: Julius Caesar	Translator: W. A. McDevitte
281	Muri autem omnes Gallici hac fere forma sunt . Trabes derectae perpetuae in longitudinem paribus intervallis , distantes inter se binos pedes , in solo collocantur . Hae revinciuntur introrsus et multo aggere vestiuntur : ea autem , quae diximus , intervalla grandibus in fronte saxis effarciuntur . His collocatis et coagmentatis alius insuper ordo additur , ut idem illud intervallum servetur neque inter se contingant trabes , sed paribus intermissae spatiis singulae singulis saxis interiectis arte contineantur . Sic deinceps omne opus contexitur , dum iusta muri altitudo expleatur . Hoc cum in speciem varietatemque opus deforme non est alternis trabibus ac saxis , quae rectis lineis suos ordines servant , tum ad utilitatem et defensionem urbium summam habet opportunitatem , quod et ab incendio lapis et ab ariete materia defendit , quae perpetuis trabibus pedes quadragenos plerumque introrsus revincta neque perrumpi neque distrahi potest .	But this is usually the form of all the Gallic walls. Straight beams, connected lengthwise and two feet distant from each other at equal intervals, are placed together on the ground; these are mortised on the inside, and covered with plenty of earth. But the intervals which we have mentioned, are closed up in front by large stones. These being thus laid and cemented together, another row is added above, in such a manner, that the same interval may be observed, and that the beams may not touch one another, but equal spaces intervening, each row of beams is kept firmly in its place by a row of stones. In this manner the whole wall is consolidated, until the regular height of the wall be completed. This work, with respect to appearance and variety, is not unsightly, owing to the alternate rows of beams and stones, which preserve their order in right lines; and, besides, it possesses great advantages as regards utility and the defense of cities; for the stone protects it from fire, and the wood from the battering ram, since it [the wood] being mortised in the inside with rows of beams, generally forty feet each in length, can neither be broken through nor torn asunder.
282	His tot rebus impedita oppugnatione milites , cum toto tempore frigore et assiduis imbribus tardarentur , tamen continenti labore omnia haec superaverunt et diebus XXV aggerem latum pedes CCCXXX , altum pedes LXXX exstruxerunt . Cum is murum hostium paene contingeret , et Caesar ad opus consuetudine excubaret militesque hortaretur , ne quod omnino tempus ab opere intermitteretur , paulo ante tertiam vigiliam est animadversum fumare aggerem , quem cuniculo hostes succenderant , eodemque tempore toto muro clamore sublato duabus portis ab utroque latere turrium eruptio fiebat . Alii faces atque aridam materiem de muro in aggerem eminus iaciebant , picem reliquasque res , quibus ignis excitari potest , fundebant , ut quo primum curreretur aut cui rei ferretur auxilium vix ratio iniri posset . Tamen , quod instituto Caesaris semper duae legiones pro castris excubabant pluresque partitis temporibus erant in opere , celeriter factum est , ut alii eruptionibus resisterent , alii turres reducerent aggeremque interscinderent , omnis vero ex castris multitudo ad restinguendum concurreret .	The siege having been impeded by so many disadvantages, the soldiers, although they were retarded during the whole time by the mud, cold, and constant showers, yet by their incessant labor overcame all these obstacles, and in twenty-five days raised a mound three hundred and thirty feet broad and eighty feet high. When it almost touched the enemy's walls, and Caesar, according to his usual custom, kept watch at the work, and encouraged the soldiers not to discontinue the work for a moment: a little before the third watch they discovered that the mound was sinking, since the enemy had set it on fire by a mine; and at the same time a shout was raised along the entire wall, and a sally was made from two gates on each side of the turrets. Some at a distance were casting torches and dry wood from the wall on the mound, others were pouring on it pitch, and other materials, by which the flame might be excited, so that a plan could hardly be formed, as to where they should first run to the defense, or to what part aid should be brought. However, as two legions always kept guard before the camp by Caesar's orders, and several of them were at stated times at the work, measures were promptly taken, that some should oppose the sallying party, others draw back the towers and make a cut in the rampart; and moreover, that the whole army should hasten from the camp to extinguish the flames.
283	Cum in omnibus locis consumpta iam reliqua parte noctis pugnaretur , semperque hostibus spes victoriae redintegraretur , eo magis , quod deustos pluteos turrium videbant nec facile adire apertos ad auxiliandum animadvertebant , semperque ipsi recentes defessis succederent omnemque Galliae salutem in illo vestigio temporis positam arbitrarentur , accidit inspectantibus nobis quod dignum memoria visum praetereundum non existimavimus . Quidam ante portam oppidi Gallus per manus sebi ac picis traditas glebas in ignem e regione turris proiciebat : scorpione ab latere dextro traiectus exanimatusque concidit . Hunc ex proximis unus iacentem transgressus eodem illo munere fungebatur ; eadem ratione ictu scorpionis exanimato alteri successit tertius et tertio quartus , nec prius ille est a propugnatoribus vacuus relictus locus quam restincto aggere atque omni ex parte summotis hostibus finis est pugnandi factus .	When the battle was going on in every direction, the rest of the night being now spent, and fresh hopes of victory always arose before the enemy: the more so on this account because they saw the coverings of our towers burnt away, and perceived, that we, being exposed, could not easily go to give assistance, and they themselves were always relieving the weary with fresh men, and considered that all the safety of Gaul rested on this crisis; there happened in my own view a circumstance which, having appeared to be worthy of record, we thought it ought not to be omitted. A certain Gaul before the gate of the town, who was casting into the fire opposite the turret balls of tallow and fire which were passed along to him, was pierced with a dart on the right side and fell dead. One of those next him stepped over him as he lay, and discharged the same office: when the second man was slain in the same manner by a wound from a cross-bow, a third succeeded him, and a fourth succeeded the third: nor was this post left vacant by the besieged, until, the fire of the mound having been extinguished, and the enemy repulsed in every direction, an end was put to the fighting.
284	Omnia experti Galli , quod res nulla successerat , postero die consilium ceperunt ex oppido profugere hortante et iubente Vercingetorige . Id silentio noctis conati non magna iactura suorum sese effecturos sperabant , propterea quod neque longe ab oppido castra Vercingetorigis aberant , et palus , quae perpetua intercedebat , Romanos ad insequendum tardabat . Iamque hoc facere noctu apparabant , cum matres familiae repente in publicum procurrerunt flentesque proiectae ad pedes suorum omnibus precibus petierunt , ne se et communes liberos hostibus ad supplicium dederent , quos ad capiendam fugam naturae et virium infirmitas impediret . Vbi eos in sententia perstare viderunt , quod plerumque in summo periculo timor misericordiam non recipit , conclamare et significare de fuga Romanis coeperunt . Quo timore perterriti Galli , ne ab equitatu Romanorum viae praeoccuparentur , consilio destiterunt .	The Gauls having tried every expedient, as nothing had succeeded, adopted the design of fleeing from the town the next day, by the advice and order of Vercingetorix. They hoped that, by attempting it at the dead of night, they would effect it without any great loss of men, because the camp of Vercingetorix was not far distant from the town, and the extensive marsh which intervened, was likely to retard the Romans in the pursuit. And they were now preparing to execute this by night, when the matrons suddenly ran out-into the streets, and weeping cast themselves at the feet of their husbands, and requested of them, with every entreaty, that they should not abandon themselves and their common children to the enemy for punishment, because the weakness of their nature and physical powers prevented them from taking to flight. When they saw that they (as fear does not generally admit of mercy in extreme danger) persisted in their resolution, they began to shout aloud, and give intelligence of their flight to the Romans. The Gauls being intimidated by fear of this, lest the passes should be pre-occupied by the Roman cavalry, desisted from their design.
285	Postero die Caesar promota turri perfectisque operibus quae facere instituerat , magno coorto imbre non inutilem hanc ad capiendum consilium tempestatem arbitratus est , quod paulo incautius custodias in muro dispositas videbat , suosque languidius in opere versari iussit et quid fieri vellet ostendit . Legionibusque intra vineas in occulto expeditis , cohortatus ut aliquando pro tantis laboribus fructum victoriae perciperent , eis qui primi murum ascendissent praemia proposuit militibusque signum dedit . Illi subito ex omnibus partibus evolaverunt murumque celeriter compleverunt .	The next day Caesar, the tower being advanced, and the works which he had determined to raise being arranged, a violent storm arising, thought this no bad time for executing his designs, because he observed the guards arranged on the walls a little too negligently, and therefore ordered his own men to engage in their work more remissly, and pointed out what he wished to be done. He drew up his soldiers in a secret position within the vineae, and exhorts them to reap, at least, the harvest of victory proportionate to their exertions. He proposed a reward for those who should first scale the walls, and gave the signal to the soldiers. They suddenly flew out from all quarters and quickly filled the walls.
286	Hostes re nova perterriti muro turribusque deiecti in foro ac locis patentioribus cuneatim constiterunt , hoc animo ut si qua ex parte obviam contra veniretur acie instructa depugnarent . Vbi neminem in aequum locum sese demittere , sed toto undique muro circumfundi viderunt , veriti ne omnino spes fugae tolleretur , abiectis armis ultimas oppidi partes continenti impetu petiverunt , parsque ibi , cum angusto exitu portarum se ipsi premerent , a militibus , pars iam egressa portis ab equitibus est interfecta ; nec fuit quisquam , qui praedae studeret . Sic et Cenabi caede et labore operis incitati non aetate confectis , non mulieribus , non infantibus pepercerunt . Denique ex omni numero , qui fuit circiter milium XL , vix DCCC , qui primo clamore audito se ex oppido eiecerunt , incolumes ad Vercingetorigem pervenerunt . Quos ille multa iam nocte silentio ex fuga excepit , veritus ne qua in castris ex eorum concursu et misericordia vulgi seditio oreretur , ut procul in via dispositis familiaribus suis principibusque civitatum disparandos deducendosque ad suos curaret , quae cuique civitati pars castrorum ab initio obvenerat .	The enemy being alarmed by the suddenness of the attack, were dislodged from the wall and towers, and drew up, in form of a wedge, in the market place and the open streets, with this intention that, if an attack should be made on any side, they should fight with their line drawn up to receive it. When they saw no one descending to the level ground, and the enemy extending themselves along the entire wall in every direction, fearing lest every hope of flight should be cut off, they cast away their arms, and sought, without stopping, the most remote parts of the town. A part was then slain by the infantry when they were crowding upon one another in the narrow passage of the gates; and a part having got without the gates, were cut to pieces by the cavalry: nor was there one who was anxious for the plunder. Thus, being excited by the massacre at Genabum and the fatigue of the siege, they spared neither those worn out with years, women, or children. Finally, out of all that number, which amounted to about forty thousand, scarcely eight hundred, who fled from the town when they heard the first alarm, reached Vercingetorix in safety: and he, the night being now far spent, received them in silence after their flight (fearing that any sedition should arise in the camp from their entrance in a body and the compassion of the soldiers), so that, having arranged his friends and the chiefs of the states at a distance on the road, he took precautions that they should be separated and conducted to their fellow countrymen, to whatever part of the camp had been assigned to each state from the beginning.
287	Postero die concilio convocato consolatus cohortatusque est ne se admodum animo demitterent , ne perturbarentur incommodo ; non virtute neque in acie vicisse Romanos , sed artificio quodam et scientia oppugnationis , cuius rei fuerint ipsi imperiti ; errare , si qui in bello omnes secundos rerum proventus exspectent . Sibi numquam placuisse Avaricum defendi , cuius rei testes ipsos haberet ; sed factum imprudentia Biturigum et nimia obsequentia reliquorum uti hoc incommodum acciperetur ; id tamen se celeriter maioribus commodis sanaturum . Nam quae ab reliquis Gallis civitates dissentirent , has sua diligentia adiuncturum atque unum consilium totius Galliae effecturum , cuius consensui ne orbis quidem terrarum possit obsistere ; idque se prope iam effectum habere . Interea aequum esse ab eis communis salutis causa impetrari ut castra munire instituerent , quo facilius repentinos hostium impetus sustinerent .	Vercingetorix having convened an assembly on the following day, consoled and encouraged his soldiers in the following words: "That they should not be too much depressed in spirit, nor alarmed at their loss; that the Romans did not conquer by valor nor in the field, but by a kind of art and skill in assault, with which they themselves were unacquainted; that whoever expected every event in the war to be favorable, erred; that it never was his opinion that Avaricum should be defended, of the truth of which statement he had themselves as witnesses, but that it was owing to the imprudence of the Bituriges, and the too ready compliance of the rest, that this loss was sustained; that, however, he would soon compensate it by superior advantages; for that he would, by his exertions, bring over those states which severed themselves from the rest of the Gauls, and would create a general unanimity throughout the whole of Gaul, the union of which not even the whole earth could withstand, and that he had it already almost effected; that in the mean time it was reasonable that he should prevail on them, for the sake of the general safety, to begin to fortify their camp, in order that they might the more easily sustain the sudden attacks of the enemy."
288	Fuit haec oratio non ingrata Gallis , et maxime , quod ipse animo non defecerat tanto accepto incommodo neque se in occultum abdiderat et conspectum multitudinis fugerat ; plusque animo providere et praesentire existimabatur , quod re integra primo incendendum Avaricum , post deserendum censuerat . Itaque ut reliquorum imperatorum res adversae auctoritatem minuunt , sic huius ex contrario dignitas incommodo accepto in dies augebatur . Simul in spem veniebant eius adfirmatione de reliquis adiungendis civitatibus ; primumque eo tempore Galli castra munire instituerunt et sic sunt animo confirmati , homines insueti laboris , ut omnia quae imperarentur sibi patienda existimarent .	This speech was not disagreeable to the Gauls, principally, because he himself was not disheartened by receiving so severe a loss, and had not concealed himself, nor shunned the eyes of the people: and he was believed to possess greater foresight and sounder judgment than the rest, because, when the affair was undecided, he had at first been of opinion that Avaricum should be burnt, and afterward that it should be abandoned. Accordingly, as ill success weakens the authority of other generals, so, on the contrary, his dignity increased daily, although a loss was sustained: at the same time they began to entertain hopes, on his assertion, of uniting the rest of the states to themselves, and on this occasion, for the first time, the Gauls began to fortify their camps, and were so alarmed that although they were men unaccustomed to toil, yet they were of opinion that they ought to endure and suffer every thing which should be imposed upon them.
289	Nec minus quam est pollicitus Vercingetorix animo laborabat ut reliquas civitates adiungeret , atque eas donis pollicitationibusque alliciebat . Huic rei idoneos homines deligebat , quorum quisque aut oratione subdola aut amicitia facillime capere posset . Qui Avarico expugnato refugerant , armandos vestiendosque curat ; simul , ut deminutae copiae redintegrarentur , imperat certum numerum militum civitatibus , quem et quam ante diem in castra adduci velit , sagittariosque omnes , quorum erat permagnus numerus in Gallia , conquiri et ad se mitti iubet . His rebus celeriter id quod Avarici deperierat expletur . Interim Teutomatus , Olloviconis filius , rex Nitiobrigum , cuius pater ab senatu nostro amicus erat appellatus , cum magno equitum suorum numero et quos ex Aquitania conduxerat ad eum pervenit .	Nor did Vercingetorix use less efforts than he had promised, to gain over the other states, and [in consequence] endeavored to entice their leaders by gifts and promises. For this object he selected fitting emissaries, by whose subtle pleading or private friendship, each of the nobles could be most easily influenced. He takes care that those who fled to him on the storming of Avaricum should be provided with arms and clothes. At the same time that his diminished forces should be recruited, he levies a fixed quota of soldiers from each state, and defines the number and day before which he should wish them brought to the camp, and orders all the archers, of whom there was a very great number in Gaul, to be collected and sent to him. By these means, the troops which were lost at Avaricum are speedily replaced. In the mean time, Teutomarus, the son of Ollovicon, the king of the Nitiobriges, whose father had received the appellation of friend from our senate, came to him with a great number of his own horse and those whom he had hired from Aquitania .
290	Caesar Avarici complures dies commoratus summamque ibi copiam frumenti et reliqui commeatus nactus exercitum ex labore atque inopia refecit . Iam prope hieme confecta cum ipso anni tempore ad gerendum bellum vocaretur et ad hostem proficisci constituisset , sive eum ex paludibus silvisque elicere sive obsidione premere posset , legati ad eum principes Aeduorum veniunt oratum ut maxime necessario tempore civitati subveniat : summo esse in periculo rem , quod , cum singuli magistratus antiquitus creari atque regiam potestatem annum obtinere consuessent , duo magistratum gerant et se uterque eorum legibus creatum esse dicat . Horum esse alterum Convictolitavem , florentem et illustrem adulescentem , alterum Cotum , antiquissima familia natum atque ipsum hominem summae potentiae et magnae cognationis , cuius frater Valetiacus proximo anno eundem magistratum gesserit . Civitatem esse omnem in armis ; divisum senatum , divisum populum , suas cuiusque eorum clientelas . Quod si diutius alatur controversia , fore uti pars cum parte civitatis confligat . Id ne accidat , positum in eius diligentia atque auctoritate .	Caesar, after delaying several days at Avaricum , and, finding there the greatest plenty of corn and other provisions, refreshed his army after their fatigue and privation. The winter being almost ended, when he was invited by the favorable season of the year to prosecute the war and march against the enemy, [and try] whether he could draw them from the marshes and woods, or else press them by a blockade; some noblemen of the Aedui came to him as embassadors to entreat "that in an extreme emergency he should succor their state; that their affairs were in the utmost danger, because, whereas single magistrates had been usually appointed in ancient times and held the power of king for a single year, two persons now exercised this office, and each asserted that he was appointed according to their laws. That one of them was Convictolitanis, a powerful and illustrious youth; the other Cotus, sprung from a most ancient family, and personally a man of very great influence and extensive connections. His brother Valetiacus had borne the same office during the last year: that the whole state was up in arms; the senate divided, the people divided; that each of them had his own adherents; and that, if the animosity would be fomented any longer, the result would be that one part of the state would come to a collision with the other; that it rested with his activity and influence to prevent it."
291	Caesar , etsi a bello atque hoste discedere detrimentosum esse existimabat , tamen non ignorans quanta ex dissensionibus incommoda oriri consuessent , ne tanta et tam coniuncta populo Romano civitas , quam ipse semper aluisset omnibusque rebus ornasset , ad vim atque arma descenderet , atque ea pars quae minus sibi confideret auxilia a Vercingetorige arcesseret , huic rei praevertendum existimavit et , quod legibus Aeduorum eis , qui summum magistratum obtinerent , excedere ex finibus non liceret , ne quid de iure aut de legibus eorum deminuisse videretur , ipse in Aeduos proficisci statuit senatumque omnem et quos inter controversia esset ad se Decetiam evocavit . Cum prope omnis civitas eo convenisset , docereturque paucis clam convocatis alio loco , alio tempore atque oportuerit fratrem a fratre renuntiatum , cum leges duo ex una familia vivo utroque non solum magistratus creari vetarent , sed etiam in senatu esse prohiberent , Cotum imperium deponere coegit , Convictolitavem , qui per sacerdotes more civitatis intermissis magistratibus esset creatus , potestatem obtinere iussit .	Although Caesar considered it ruinous to leave the war and the enemy, yet, being well aware what great evils generally arise from internal dissensions, lest a state so powerful and so closely connected with the Roman people, which he himself had always fostered and honored in every respect, should have recourse to violence and arms, and that the party which had less confidence in its own power should summon aid from Vercingetorix, he determined to anticipate this movement; and because, by the laws of the Aedui, it was not permitted those who held the supreme authority to leave the country, he determined to go in person to the Aedui, lest he should appear to infringe upon their government and laws, and summoned all the senate, and those between whom the dispute was, to meet him at Decetia. When almost all the state had assembled there, and he was informed that one brother had been declared magistrate by the other, when only a few persons were privately summoned for the purpose, at a different time and place from what he ought, whereas the laws not only forbade two belonging to one family to be elected magistrates while each was alive, but even deterred them from being in the senate, he compelled Cotus to resign his office; he ordered Convictolitanis, who had been elected by the priests, according to the usage of the state, in the presence of the magistrates, to hold the supreme authority.
292	Hoc decreto interposito cohortatus Aeduos , ut controversiarum ac dissensionis obliviscerentur atque omnibus omissis his rebus huic bello servirent eaque quae meruissent praemia ab se devicta Gallia exspectarent equitatumque omnem et peditum milia decem sibi celeriter mitterent , quae in praesidiis rei frumentariae causa disponeret , exercitum in duas partes divisit : quattuor legiones in Senones Parisiosque Labieno ducendas dedit , sex ipse in Arvernos ad oppidum Gergoviam secundum flumen Elaver duxit ; equitatus partem illi attribuit , partem sibi reliquit . Qua re cognita Vercingetorix omnibus interruptis eius fluminis pontibus ab altera fluminis parte iter facere coepit .	Having pronounced this decree between [the contending parties], he exhorted the Aedui to bury in oblivion their disputes and dissensions, and, laying aside all these things, devote themselves to the war, and expect from him, on the conquest of Gaul, those rewards which they should have earned, and send speedily to him all their cavalry and ten thousand infantry, which he might place in different garrisons to protect his convoys of provisions, and then divided his army into two parts: he gave Labienus four legions to lead into the country of the Senones and Parisii ; and led in person six into the country of the Arverni, in the direction of the town of Gergovia , along the banks of the Allier . He gave part of the cavalry to Labienus and kept part to himself. Vercingetorix, on learning this circumstance, broke down all the bridges over the river and began to march on the other bank of the Allier .
293	Cum uterque utrimque exisset exercitus , in conspectu fereque e regione castris castra ponebant dispositis exploratoribus , necubi effecto ponte Romani copias traducerent . Erat in magnis Caesaris difficultatibus res , ne maiorem aestatis partem flumine impediretur , quod non fere ante autumnum Elaver vado transiri solet . Itaque , ne id accideret , silvestri loco castris positis e regione unius eorum pontium , quos Vercingetorix rescindendos curaverat , postero die cum duabus legionibus in occulto restitit ; reliquas copias cum omnibus impedimentis , ut consueverat , misit , apertis quibusdam cohortibus , uti numerus legionum constare videretur . His quam longissime possent egredi iussis , cum iam ex diei tempore coniecturam ceperat in castra perventum , isdem sublicis , quarum pars inferior integra remanebat , pontem reficere coepit . Celeriter effecto opere legionibusque traductis et loco castris idoneo delecto reliquas copias revocavit . Vercingetorix re cognita , ne contra suam voluntatem dimicare cogeretur , magnis itineribus antecessit .	When each army was in sight of the other, and was pitching their camp almost opposite that of the enemy, scouts being distributed in every quarter, lest the Romans should build a bridge and bring over their troops; it was to Caesar a matter attended with great difficulties, lest he should be hindered from passing the river during the greater part of the summer, as the Allier can not generally be forded before the autumn. Therefore, that this might not happen, having pitched his camp in a woody place opposite to one of those bridges which Vercingetorix had taken care should be broken down, the next day he stopped behind with two legions in a secret place; he sent on the rest of the forces as usual, with all the baggage, after having selected some cohorts, that the number of the legions might appear to be complete. Having ordered these to advance as far as they could, when now, from the time of day, he conjectured they had come to an encampment, he began to rebuild the bridge on the same piles, the lower part of which remained entire. Having quickly finished the work and led his legions across, he selected a fit place for a camp, and recalled the rest of his troops. Vercingetorix, on ascertaining this fact, went before him by forced marches, in order that he might not be compelled to come to an action against his will.
294	Caesar ex eo loco quintis castris Gergoviam pervenit equestrique eo die proelio levi facto perspecto urbis situ , quae posita in altissimo monte omnes aditus difficiles habebat , de expugnatione desperavit , de obsessione non prius agendum constituit , quam rem frumentariam expedisset . At Vercingetorix castris , prope oppidum positis , mediocribus circum se intervallis separatim singularum civitatium copias collocaverat atque omnibus eius iugi collibus occupatis , qua despici poterat , horribilem speciem praebebat ; principesque earum civitatium , quos sibi ad consilium capiendum delegerat , prima luce cotidie ad se convenire iubebat , seu quid communicandum , seu quid administrandum videretur ; neque ullum fere diem intermittebat quin equestri proelio interiectis sagittariis , quid in quoque esset animi ac virtutis suorum perspiceret . Erat e regione oppidi collis sub ipsis radicibus montis , egregie munitus atque ex omni parte circumcisus ; quem si tenerent nostri , et aquae magna parte et pabulatione libera prohibituri hostes videbantur ; sed is locus praesidio ab his non nimis firmo tenebatur ; tamen silentio noctis Caesar ex castris egressus , priusquam subsidio ex oppido veniri posset , deiecto praesidio potitus loco duas ibi legiones collocavit fossamque duplicem duodenum pedum a maioribus castris ad minora perduxit , ut tuto ab repentino hostium incursu etiam singuli commeare possent .	Caesar, in five days' march, went from that place to Gergovia , and after engaging in a slight cavalry skirmish that day, on viewing the situation of the city, which, being built on a very high mountain, was very difficult of access, he despaired of taking it by storm, and determined to take no measures with regard to besieging it before he should secure a supply of provisions. But Vercingetorix, having pitched his camp on the mountain near the town, placed the forces of each state separately and at small intervals around himself, and having occupied all the hills of that range as far as they commanded a view [of the Roman encampment], he presented a formidable appearance; he ordered the rulers of the states, whom he had selected as his council of war, to come to him daily at the dawn, whether any measure seemed to require deliberation or execution. Nor did he allow almost any day to pass without testing in a cavalry action, the archers being intermixed, what spirit and valor there was in each of his own men. There was a hill opposite the town, at the very foot of that mountain, strongly fortified and precipitous on every side (which if our men could gain, they seemed likely to exclude the enemy from a great share of their supply of water, and from free foraging; but this place was occupied by them with a weak garrison): however, Caesar set out from the camp in the silence of night, and dislodging the garrison before succor could come from the town, he got possession of the place and posted two legions there, and drew from the greater camp to the less a double trench twelve feet broad, so that the soldiers could even singly pass secure from any sudden attack of the enemy.