Gallic War (Julius Caesar)

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	Gallic War Author: Julius Caesar	Translator: W. A. McDevitte
57	Eo cum de improviso celeriusque omnium opinione venisset , Remi , qui proximi Galliae ex Belgis sunt , ad eum legatos Iccium et Andebrogium , primos civitatis , miserunt , qui dicerent se suaque omnia in fidem atque potestatem populi Romani permittere , neque se cum reliquis Belgis consensisse neque contra populum Romanum coniurasse , paratosque esse et obsides dare et imperata facere et oppidis recipere et frumento ceterisque rebus iuvare ; reliquos omnes Belgas in armis esse , Germanosque qui cis Rhenum incolant sese cum his coniunxisse , tantumque esse eorum omnium furorem ut ne Suessiones quidem , fratres consanguineosque suos , qui eodem iure et isdem legibus utantur , unum imperium unumque magistratum cum ipsis habeant , deterrere potuerint quin cum iis consentirent .	As he arrived there unexpectedly and sooner than any one anticipated, the Remi, who are the nearest of the Belgae to [Celtic] Gaul, sent to him Iccius and Antebrogius, [two of] the principal persons of the state, as their embassadors: to tell him that they surrendered themselves and all their possessions to the protection and disposal of the Roman people: and that they had neither combined with the rest of the Belgae, nor entered into any confederacy against the Roman people: and were prepared to give hostages, to obey his commands, to receive him into their towns, and to aid him with corn and other things; that all the rest of the Belgae were in arms; and that the Germans, who dwell on this side of the Rhine, had joined themselves to them; and that so great was the infatuation of them all, that they could not restrain even the Suessiones, their own brethren and kinsmen, who enjoy the same rights, and the, same laws, and who have one government and one magistracy [in common] with themselves, from uniting with them.
58	Cum ab iis quaereret quae civitates quantaeque in armis essent et quid in bello possent , sic reperiebat : plerosque Belgas esse ortos a Germanis Rhenumque antiquitus traductos propter loci fertilitatem ibi consedisse Gallosque qui ea loca incolerent expulisse , solosque esse qui , patrum nostrorum memoria omni Gallia vexata , Teutonos Cimbrosque intra suos fines ingredi prohibuerint ; qua ex re fieri uti earum rerum memoria magnam sibi auctoritatem magnosque spiritus in re militari sumerent . De numero eorum omnia se habere explorata Remi dicebant , propterea quod propinquitatibus adfinitatibusque coniuncti quantam quisque multitudinem in communi Belgarum concilio ad id bellum pollicitus sit cognoverint . Plurimum inter eos Bellovacos et virtute et auctoritate et hominum numero valere : hos posse conficere armata milia centum , pollicitos ex eo numero electa milia LX totiusque belli imperium sibi postulare . Suessiones suos esse finitimos ; fines latissimos feracissimosque agros possidere . Apud eos fuisse regem nostra etiam memoria Diviciacum , totius Galliae potentissimum , qui cum magnae partis harum regionum , tum etiam Britanniae imperium obtinuerit ; nunc esse regem Galbam : ad hunc propter iustitiam prudentiamque summam totius belli omnium voluntate deferri ; oppida habere numero XII , polliceri milia armata L ; totidem Nervios , qui maxime feri inter ipsos habeantur longissimeque absint ; XV milia Atrebates , Ambianos X milia , Morinos XXV milia , Menapios VII milia , Caletos X milia , Veliocasses et Viromanduos totidem , Atuatucos XVIIII milia ; Condrusos , Eburones , Caerosos , Paemanos , qui uno nomine Germani appellantur , arbitrari ad XL milia .	When Caesar inquired of them what states were in arms, how powerful they were, and what they could do, in war, he received the following information: that the greater part of the Belgae were sprung, from the Germans, and that having crossed the Rhine at an early period, they had settled there, on account of the fertility of the country, and had driven out the Gauls who inhabited those regions; and that they were the only people who, in the memory of our fathers, when all Gaul was overrun, had prevented the Teutones and the Cimbri from entering their territories; the effect of which was, that, from the recollection of those events, they assumed to themselves great authority and haughtiness in military matters. The Remi said, that they had known accurately every thing respecting their number, because being united to them by neighborhood and by alliances, they had learned what number each state had in the general council of the Belgae promised for that war. That the Bellovaci were the most powerful among them in valor, influence, and the number of men; that these could muster 100,000 armed men, [and had] promised 60,000 picked men out of that number, and demanded for themselves the command of the whole war. That the Suessiones were their nearest neighbors and possessed a very extensive and fertile country; that among them, even in our own memory, Divitiacus, the most powerful man of all Gaul, had been king; who had held the government of a great part of these regions, as well as of Britain; that their king at present was Galba; that the direction of the whole war was conferred by the consent of all, upon him, on account of his integrity and prudence; that they had twelve towns; that they had promised 50,000 armed men; and that the Nervii, who are reckoned the most warlike among them, and are situated at a very great distance, [had promised] as many; the Atrebates 15,000; the Ambiani, 10,000; the Morini, 25,000; the Menapii, 9,000; the Caleti, 10,000; the Velocasses and the Veromandui as many; the Aduatuci 19,000; that the Condrusi, the Eburones, the Caeraesi, the Paemani, who are called by the common name of Germans [had promised], they thought, to the number of 40,000.
59	Caesar Remos cohortatus liberaliterque oratione prosecutus omnem senatum ad se convenire principumque liberos obsides ad se adduci iussit . Quae omnia ab his diligenter ad diem facta sunt . Ipse Diviciacum Haeduum magnopere cohortatus docet quanto opere rei publicae communisque salutis intersit manus hostium distineri , ne cum tanta multitudine uno tempore confligendum sit . Id fieri posse , si suas copias Haedui in fines Bellovacorum introduxerint et eorum agros populari coeperint . His datis mandatis eum a se dimittit . Postquam omnes Belgarum copias in unum locum coactas ad se venire vidit neque iam longe abesse ab iis quos miserat exploratoribus et ab Remis cognovit , flumen Axonam , quod est in extremis Remorum finibus , exercitum traducere maturavit atque ibi castra posuit . Quae res et latus unum castrorum ripis fluminis muniebat et post eum quae erant tuta ab hostibus reddebat et commeatus ab Remis reliquisque civitatibus ut sine periculo ad eum portari possent efficiebat . In eo flumine pons erat . Ibi praesidium ponit et in altera parte fluminis Q . Titurium Sabinum legatum cum sex cohortibus relinquit ; castra in altitudinem pedum XII vallo fossaque duodeviginti pedum muniri iubet .	Caesar, having encouraged the Remi, and addressed them courteously, ordered the whole senate to assemble before him, and the children of their chief men to be brought to him as hostages; all which commands they punctually performed by the day [appointed]. He, addressing himself to Divitiacus, the Aeduan, with great earnestness, points out how much it concerns the republic and their common security, that the forces of the enemy should be divided, so that it might not be necessary to engage with so large a number at one time. [He asserts] that this might be affected if the Aedui would lead their forces into the territories of the Bellovaci, and begin to lay waste their country. With these instructions he dismissed him from his presence. After he perceived that all the forces of the Belgae, which had been collected in one place, were approaching toward him, and learned from the scouts whom he had sent out, and [also] from the Remi, that they were then not far distant, he hastened to lead his army over the Aisne, which is on the borders of the Remi, and there pitched his camp. This position fortified one side of his camp by the banks of the river, rendered the country which lay in his rear secure from the enemy, and furthermore insured that provisions might without danger be brought to him by the Remi and the rest of the states. Over that river was a bridge: there he places a guard; and on the other side of the river he leaves Q. Titurius Sabinus, his lieutenant, with six cohorts. He orders him to fortify a camp with a rampart twelve feet in height, and a trench eighteen feet in breadth.
60	Ab his castris oppidum Remorum nomine Bibrax aberat milia passuum VIII . Id ex itinere magno impetu Belgae oppugnare coeperunt . Aegre eo die sustentatum est . Gallorum eadem atque Belgarum oppugnatio est haec : ubi circumiecta multitudine hominum totis moenibus undique in murum lapides iaci coepti sunt murusque defensoribus nudatus est , testudine facta portas succedunt murumque subruunt . Quod tum facile fiebat . Nam cum tanta multitudo lapides ac tela coicerent , in muro consistendi potestas erat nulli . Cum finem oppugnandi nox fecisset , Iccius Remus , summa nobilitate et gratia inter suos , qui tum oppido praeerat , unus ex iis qui legati de pace ad Caesarem venerant , nuntium ad eum mittit , nisi subsidium sibi submittatur , sese diutius sustinere non posse .	There was a town of the Remi, by name Bibrax, eight miles distant from this camp. This the Belgae on their march began to attack with great vigor. [The assault] was with difficulty sustained for that day. The Gauls' mode of besieging is the same as that of the Belgae: when after having drawn a large number of men around the whole of the fortifications, stones have begun to be cast against the wall on all sides, and the wall has been stripped of its defenders, [then], forming a testudo, they advance to the gates and undermine the wall: which was easily effected on this occasion; for while so large a number were casting stones and darts, no one was able to maintain his position upon the wall. When night had put an end to the assault, Iccius, who was then in command of the town, one of the Remi, a man of the highest rank and influence among his people, and one of those who had come to Caesar as embassador [to sue] for peace, sends messengers to him, [to report] "That, unless assistance were sent to him he could not hold out any longer."
61	Eo de media nocte Caesar isdem ducibus usus qui nuntii ab Iccio venerant , Numidas et Cretas sagittarios et funditores Baleares subsidio oppidanis mittit ; quorum adventu et Remis cum spe defensionis studium propugnandi accessit et hostibus eadem de causa spes potiundi oppidi discessit . Itaque paulisper apud oppidum morati agrosque Remorum depopulati , omnibus vicis aedificiisque quo adire potuerant incensis , ad castra Caesaris omnibus copiis contenderunt et a milibus passuum minus duobus castra posuerunt ; quae castra , ut fumo atque ignibus significabatur , amplius milibus passuum VIII latitudinem patebant .	Thither, immediately after midnight, Caesar, using as guides the same persons who had come to him as messengers from Iccius, sends some Numidian and Cretan archers, and some Balearian slingers as a relief to the towns-people, by whose arrival both a desire to resist together with the hope of [making good their] defense, was infused into the Remi, and, for the same reason, the hope of gaining the town, abandoned the enemy. Therefore, after staying a short time before the town, and laying waste the country of the Remi, when all the villages and buildings which they could approach had been burned, they hastened with all their forces to the camp of Caesar, and encamped within less than two miles [of it]; and their camp, as was indicated by the smoke and fires, extended more than eight miles in breadth.
62	Caesar primo et propter multitudinem hostium et propter eximiam opinionem virtutis proelio supersedere statuit ; cotidie tamen equestribus proeliis quid hostis virtute posset et quid nostri auderent periclitabatur . Ubi nostros non esse inferiores intellexit , loco pro castris ad aciem instruendam natura oportuno atque idoneo , quod is collis ubi castra posita erant paululum ex planitie editus tantum adversus in latitudinem patebat quantum loci acies instructa occupare poterat , atque ex utraque parte lateris deiectus habebat et in fronte leniter fastigatus paulatim ad planitiem redibat , ab utroque latere eius collis transversam fossam obduxit circiter passuum CCCC et ad extremas fossas castella constituit ibique tormenta conlocavit , ne , cum aciem instruxisset , hostes , quod tantum multitudine poterant , ab lateribus pugnantes suos circumvenire possent . Hoc facto , duabus legionibus quas proxime conscripserat in castris relictis ut , si quo opus esset , subsidio duci possent , reliquas VI legiones pro castris in acie constituit . Hostes item suas copias ex castris eductas instruxerunt .	Caesar at first determined to decline a battle, as well on account of the great number of the enemy as their distinguished reputation for valor: daily, however, in cavalry actions, he strove to ascertain by frequent trials, what the enemy could effect by their prowess and what our men would dare. When he perceived that our men were not inferior, as the place before the camp was naturally convenient and suitable for marshaling an army (since the hill where the camp was pitched, rising gradually from the plain, extended forward in breadth as far as the space which the marshaled army could occupy, and had steep declines of its side in either direction, and gently sloping in front gradually sank to the plain); on either side of that hill he drew a cross trench of about four hundred paces, and at the extremities of that trench built forts, and placed there his military engines, lest, after he had marshaled his army, the enemy, since they were so powerful in point of number, should be able to surround his men in the flank, while fighting. After doing this, and leaving in the camp the two legions which he had last raised, that, if there should be any occasion, they might be brought as a reserve, he formed the other six legions in order of battle before the camp. The enemy, likewise, had drawn up their forces which they had brought out of the camp.
63	Palus erat non magna inter nostrum atque hostium exercitum . Hanc si nostri transirent hostes expectabant ; nostri autem , si ab illis initium transeundi fieret , ut impeditos adgrederentur parati in armis erant . Interim proelio equestri inter duas acies contendebatur . Ubi neutri transeundi initium faciunt , secundiore equitum proelio nostris Caesar suos in castra reduxit . Hostes protinus ex eo loco ad flumen Axonam contenderunt , quod esse post nostra castra demonstratum est . Ibi vadis repertis partem suarum copiarum traducere conati sunt eo consilio ut , si possent , castellum , cui praeerat Q . Titurius legatus , expugnarent pontemque interscinderent , si minus potuissent , agros Remorum popularentur , qui magno nobis usui ad bellum gerendum erant , commeatuque nostros prohiberent .	There was a marsh of no great extent between our army and that of the enemy. The latter were waiting to see if our men would pass this; our men, also, were ready in arms to attack them while disordered, if the first attempt to pass should be made by them. In the mean time battle was commenced between the two armies by a cavalry action. When neither army began to pass the marsh, Caesar, upon the skirmishes of the horse [proving] favorable to our men, led back his forces into the camp. The enemy immediately hastened from that place to the river Aisne, which it has been; stated was behind our camp. Finding a ford there, they endeavored to lead a part of their forces over it; with the design, that, if they could, they might carry by storm the fort which Q. Titurius, Caesar's lieutenant, commanded, and might cut off the bridge; but, if they could not do that, they should lay waste the lands of the Remi, which were of great use to us in carrying on the war, and might hinder our men from foraging.
64	Caesar certior factus ab Titurio omnem equitatum et levis armaturae Numidas , funditores sagittariosque pontem traducit atque ad eos contendit . Acriter in eo loco pugnatum est . Hostes impeditos nostri in flumine adgressi magnum eorum numerum occiderunt ; per eorum corpora reliquos audacissime transire conantes multitudine telorum reppulerunt primosque , qui transierant , equitatu circumventos interfecerunt . Hostes , ubi et de expugnando oppido et de flumine transeundo spem se fefellisse intellexerunt neque nostros in locum iniquiorum progredi pugnandi causa viderunt atque ipsos res frumentaria deficere coepit , concilio convocato constituerunt optimum esse domum suam quemque reverti , et quorum in fines primum Romani exercitum introduxissent , ad eos defendendos undique convenirent , ut potius in suis quam in alienis finibus decertarent et domesticis copiis rei frumentariae uterentur . Ad eam sententiam cum reliquis causis haec quoque ratio eos deduxit , quod Diviciacum atque Haeduos finibus Bellovacorum adpropinquare cognoverant . His persuaderi ut diutius morarentur neque suis auxilium terrent non poterat .	Caesar, being apprized of this by Titurius, leads all his cavalry and light-armed Numidians, slingers and archers, over the bridge, and hastens toward them. There was a severe struggle in that place. Our men, attacking in the river the disordered enemy, slew a great part of them. By the immense number of their missiles they drove back the rest, who, in a most courageous manner were attempting to pass over their bodies, and surrounded with their cavalry, and cut to pieces those who had first crossed the river. The enemy, when they perceived that their hopes had deceived them both with regard to their taking the town by storm and also their passing the river, and did not see our men advance to a more disadvantageous place for the purpose of fighting, and when provisions began to fail them, having called a council, determined that it was best for each to return to his country, and resolved to assemble from all quarters to defend those into whose territories the Romans should first march an army; that they might contend in their own rather than in a foreign country, and might enjoy the stores of provision which they possessed at home. Together with other causes, this consideration also led them to that resolution, viz: that they had learned that Divitiacus and the Aedui were approaching the territories of the Bellovaci. And it was impossible to persuade the latter to stay any longer, or to deter them from conveying succor to their own people.
65	Ea re constituta , secunda vigilia magno cum , strepitu ac tumultu castris egressi nullo certo ordine neque imperio , cum sibi quisque primum itineris locum peteret et domum pervenire properaret , fecerunt ut consimilis fugae profectio videretur . Hac re statim Caesar per speculatores cognita insidias veritus , quod qua de causa discederent nondum perspexerat , exercitum equitatumque castris continuit . Prima luce , confirmata re ab exploratoribus , omnem equitatum , qui novissimum agmen moraretur , praemisit . His Q . Pedium et L . Aurunculeium Cottam legatos praefecit ; T . Labienum legatum cum legionibus tribus subsequi iussit . Hi novissimos adorti et multa milia passuum prosecuti magnam multitudinem eorum fugientium conciderunt , cum ab extremo agmine , ad quos ventum erat , consisterent fortiterque impetum nostrorum militum sustinerent , priores , quod abesse a periculo viderentur neque ulla necessitate neque imperio continerentur , exaudito clamore perturbatis ordinibus omnes in fuga sibi praesidium ponerent . Ita sine ullo periculo tantam eorum multitudinem nostri interfecerunt quantum fuit diei spatium ; sub occasum solis sequi destiterunt seque in castra , ut erat imperatum , receperunt .	That matter being determined on, marching out of their camp at the second watch, with great noise and confusion, in no fixed order, nor under any command, since each sought for himself the foremost place in the journey, and hastened to reach home, they made their departure appear very like a flight. Caesar, immediately learning this through his scouts, [but] fearing an ambuscade, because he had not yet discovered for what reason they were departing, kept his army and cavalry within the camp. At daybreak, the intelligence having been confirmed by the scouts, he sent forward his cavalry to harass their rear; and gave the command of it to two of his lieutenants, Q. Pedius, and L. Aurunculeius Cotta. He ordered T. Labienus, another of his lieutenants, to follow them closely with three legions. These, attacking their rear, and pursuing them for many miles, slew a great number of them as they were fleeing; while those in the rear with whom they had come up, halted, and bravely sustained the attack of our soldiers; the van, because they appeared to be removed from danger, and were not restrained by any necessity or command, as soon as the noise was heard, broke their ranks, and, to a man, rested their safety in flight. Thus without any risk [to themselves] our men killed as great a number of them as the length of the day allowed; and at sunset desisted from the pursuit, and betook themselves into the camp, as they had been commanded.
66	Postridie eius diei Caesar , prius quam se hostes ex terrore ac fuga reciperent , in fines Suessionum , qui proximi Remis erant , exercitum duxit et magno itinere [ confecto ] ad oppidum Noviodunum contendit . Id ex itinere oppugnare conatus , quod vacuum ab defensoribus esse audiebat , propter latitudinem fossae murique altitudinem paucis defendentibus expugnare non potuit . Castris munitis vineas agere quaeque ad oppugnandum usui erant comparare coepit . Interim omnis ex fuga Suessionum multitudo in oppidum proxima nocte convenit . Celeriter vineis ad oppidum actis , aggere iacto turribusque constitutis , magnitudine operum , quae neque viderant ante Galli neque audierant , et celeritate Romanorum permoti legatos ad Caesarem de deditione mittunt et petentibus Remis ut conservarentur impetrant .	On the day following, before the enemy could recover from their terror and flight, Caesar led his army into the territories of the Suessiones, which are next to the Remi, and having accomplished a long march, hastens to the town named Noviodunum. Having attempted to take it by storm on his march, because he heard that it was destitute of [sufficient] defenders, he was not able to carry it by assault, on account of the breadth of the ditch and the height of the wall, though few were defending it. Therefore, having fortified the camp, he began to bring up the vineae, and to provide whatever things were necessary for the storm. In the mean time the whole body of the Suessiones, after their flight, came the next night into the town. The vineae having been quickly brought up against the town, a mound thrown up, and towers built, the Gauls, amazed by the greatness of the works, such as they had neither seen nor heard of before, and struck also by the dispatch of the Romans, send embassadors to Caesar respecting a surrender, and succeed in consequence of the Remi requesting that they [the Suessiones] might be spared.
67	Caesar , obsidibus acceptis primis civitatis atque ipsius Galbae regis duobus filiis armisque omnibus ex oppido traditis , in deditionem Suessiones accipit exercitumque in Bellovacos ducit . Qui cum se suaque omnia in oppidum Bratuspantium contulissent atque ab eo oppido Caesar cum exercitu circiter milia passuum V abesset , omnes maiores natu ex oppido egressi manus ad Caesarem tendere et voce significare coeperunt sese in eius fidem ac potestatem venire neque contra populum Romanum armis contendere . Item , cum ad oppidum accessisset castraque ibi poneret , pueri mulieresque ex muro passis manibus suo more pacem ab Romanis petierunt .	Caesar, having received as hostages the first men of the state, and even the two sons of king Galba himself; and all the arms in the town having been delivered up, admitted the Suessiones to a surrender, and led his army against the Bellovaci. Who, when they had conveyed themselves and all their possessions into the town Galled Bratuspantium, and Caesar with his army was about five miles distant from that town, all the old men, going out of the town, began to stretch out their hands to Caesar, and to intimate by their voice that they would throw themselves on his protection and power, nor would contend in arms against the Roman people. In like manner, when he had come up to the town, and there pitched his camp, the boys and the women from the wall, with outstretched hands, after their custom, begged peace from the Romans.
68	Pro his Diviciacus ( nam post discessum Belgarum dimissis Haeduorum copiis ad eum reverterat ) facit verba : Bellovacos omni tempore in fide atque amicitia civitatis Haeduae fuisse ; impulsos ab suis principibus , qui dicerent Haeduos a Caesare in servitutem redactos omnes indignitates contumeliasque perferre , et ab Haeduis defecisse et populo Romano bellum intulisse . Qui eius consilii principes fuissent , quod intellegerent quantam calamitatem civitati intulissent , in Britanniam profugisse . Petere non solum Bellovacos , sed etiam pro his Haeduos , ut sua clementia ac mansuetudine in eos utatur . Quod si fecerit , Haeduorum auctoritatem apud omnes Belgas amplificaturum , quorum auxiliis atque opibus , si qua bella inciderint , sustentare consuerint .	For these Divitiacus pleads (for after the departure of the Belgae, having dismissed the troops of the Aedui, he had returned to Caesar). "The Bellovaci had at all times been in the alliance and friendship of the Aeduan state; that they had revolted from the Aedui and made war upon the Roman people, being urged thereto by their nobles, who said that the Aedui, reduced to slavery by Caesar, were suffering every indignity and insult. That they who had been the leaders of that plot, because they perceived how great a calamity they had brought upon the state, had fled into Britain. That not only the Bellovaci, but also the Aedui, entreated him to use his [accustomed] clemency and lenity toward them [the Bellovaci]: which if he did, he would increase the influence of the Aedui among all the Belgae, by whose succor and resources they had been accustomed to support themselves whenever any wars occurred."
69	Caesar honoris Diviciaci atque Haeduorum causa sese eos in fidem recepturum et conservaturum dixit , et quod erat civitas magna inter Belgas auctoritate atque hominum multitudine praestabat , DC obsides poposcit . His traditis omnibusque armis ex oppido conlatis , ab eo loco in fines Ambianorum pervenit ; qui se suaque omnia sine mora dediderunt . Eorum fines Nervii attingebant . Quorum de natura moribusque Caesar cum quaereret , sic reperiebat : nullum esse aditum ad eos mercatoribus ; nihil pati vini reliquarumque rerum ad luxuriam pertinentium inferri , quod his rebus relanguescere animos eorum et remitti virtutem existimarent ; esse homines feros magnaeque virtutis ; increpitare atque incusare reliquos Belgas , qui se populo Romano dedidissent patriamque virtutem proiecissent ; confirmare sese neque legatos missuros neque ullam condicionem pacis accepturos .	Caesar said that on account of his respect for Divitiacus and the Aeduans, he would receive them into his protection, and would spare them; but, because the state was of great influence among the Belgae, and pre-eminent in the number of its population, he demanded 600 hostages. When these were delivered, and all the arms in the town collected, he went from that place into the territories of the Ambiani, who, without delay, surrendered themselves and all their possessions. Upon their territories bordered the Nervii, concerning whose character and customs when Caesar inquired he received the following information:-That there was no access for merchants to them; that they suffered no wine and other things tending to luxury to be imported; because, they thought that by their use the mind is enervated and the courage impaired: that they were a savage people and of great bravery: that they upbraided and condemned the rest of the Belgae who had surrendered themselves to the Roman people and thrown aside their national courage: that they openly declared they would neither send embassadors, nor accept any condition of peace."
70	Cum per eorum fines triduum iter fecisset , inveniebat ex captivis Sabim flumen a castris suis non amplius milibus passuum X abesse ; trans id flumen omnes Nervios consedisse adventumque ibi Romanorum expectare una cum Atrebatibus et Viromanduis , finitimis suis ( nam his utrisque persuaserant uti eandem belli fortunam experirentur ) ; expectari etiam ab iis Atuatucorum copias atque esse in itinere ; mulieres quique per aetatem ad pugnam inutiles viderentur in eum locum coniecisse quo propter paludes exercitui aditus non esset .	After he had made three days march through their territories, he discovered from some prisoners, that the river Sambre was not more than ten miles from his camp; that all the Nervii had stationed themselves on the other side of that river, and together with the Atrebates and the Veromandui, their neighbors, were there awaiting the arrival of the Romans; for they had persuaded both these nations to try the same fortune of war [as themselves]: that the forces of the Aduatuci were also expected by them, and were on their march; that they had put their women, and those who through age appeared useless for war, in a place to which there was no approach for an army, on account of the marshes.