Caesar by David Grace

Author:David Grace [David Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781612307688
Publisher: New Word City, LLC
Published: 2014-03-19T16:00:00+00:00

Politics

His foothold now well established in Gaul, Caesar again turned his attention to the business of governing his province with a vigor perhaps unexpected of a soldier just removed from a battle of such duration and difficulty. He tended to his armies – restocking supplies, seeking out new recruits – and caught up on the developments in Rome, where his military success was widely celebrated. A fifteen-day festival, the longest ever, praised Caesar for the acquisition of a new province.

Other news from Rome was less encouraging. Cato’s mission to claim Cyprus for Rome was ending, and there were sure to be negative consequences for Caesar. Caesar’s Triumvirate was also threatening to splinter. His partners Pompey and Crassus were feuding again.

To attempt to repair the relationship and secure the Triumvirate’s hold on the government, the three agreed that Pompey and Crassus would ascend to consul in 56 B.C., granting Caesar five more years as governor, after which he would take over as consul and appoint his partners governors of key territories. Appeased, Pompey and Crassus resolved their differences, and the trio again entwined their fates.

A message from his colleague’s son, young Publius Crassus, later that spring stirred Caesar from his Illyrian province and back to Gaul. A revolt was rising on Gaul’s Atlantic coast, led by the seafaring Veneti, who had assaulted Roman quartermasters restocking supplies for Caesar’s army.

Caesar moved to head off the rebellion. He attacked the Veneti by land in their home territory in the Cherbourg peninsula, where the enemy’s advantage came into full view. The Romans chased the Veneti, who slipped from their grasp, boarding their boats and sailing from one town to the next.

The arrival of the Roman fleet set the forces on an even stance, although the Veneti’s 200-ship armada, raining down missiles, towered over the Roman galleys. Even the rams on the Roman ships proved useless against the tall oaken sides of the Veneti’s sailing vessels. Their greatest weapon proved to be long hooked poles that Caesar’s men used to tear down the enemy’s rigging. The Roman soldiers quickly boarded and took over the Veneti’s ships. The conflict was over by sunset as the crippled Veneti ships slunk ashore in defeat.

The next year, 55 B.C., a pair of invading German tribes encroached on Gaul’s Belgae territory. Caesar again assembled his legions, the sight of which motivated the Germans to seek parley. As the Germans continued to plunder and assembled their forces for a battle, the chieftains crafted a story for Caesar, claiming they had been run out of their homeland by invaders from the east and seeking his approval to settle in the Belgian land they had taken. Caesar dispatched his cavalry to cut them down - men, women, and children alike.

In Rome, Caesar’s brutality was condemned by his political rivals. Cato even suggested handing Caesar over to the Germans.

But Caesar wasn’t finished. In his rage, he had a bridge built across the Rhine, and crossing into Germany, his army laid waste to the countryside.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.