 100. Nathan Hale |
Map: Gallia  |
In 58 B.C. Julius Caesar became governor of northern Italy and the vast country extending from the Alps to the North Sea, and spent the next nine years in disciplining various tribes of that great territory.
Caesar, cum in Galliā bellum gerēbat, tōtam aestatem hostēs premere solitus est, tum, ut vīrēs mīlitum cōnservāret, exercitum in hīberna dēdūcēbat: nam caelum eārum regiōnum hieme asperrimum est; quārē ille iūdicābat aestāte sibi cum hostibus esse dīmicandum, reliquōs autem annī mēnsēs in hībernīs mīlites retinendōs esse. Ōlim, cum trānsīsset in Britanniam multōsque diēs cum incolīs eius īnsulae bellum gessisset, aestāte exactā ad continentem rediit. Ibi certior factus est propter siccitātem in Galliā summam esse frūmentī inopiam. Itaque exercitum in partēs complūrēs dīvisum in dīversīs cīvitātibus hiemandī causā collocāvit.
Quō factō, dux quīdam Gallōrum, nōmine Ambiorīx, cum exercitus tot in partēs dīvīsus esset, Rōmānēs iam dēmum facile superārī posse ratus, ūna castra longinqua subitō est adortus; impetus autem fortiter exceptus est ā nostrīs, quī equitēs hostium cōnfēstim in fugam dedērunt. Quā spē dēiecti, Gallī clāmēvērunt sē colloquium velle; quō audītō, lēgātī quī illīs castrīs praeerant, extrā mūnitiōnēs nōn dūbitāvērunt eōs mittere, quī cum Ambiorīge colloquerentur.