Commentarii de Bello Gallico (
English Commentaries on the Gallic War) is
Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the
Gallic Wars, written as a
third-person narrative. In it Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine years he spent fighting local armies in
Gaul that opposed
Roman domination. The "Gaul" that Caesar refers to is sometimes all of Gaul except for the Roman province of
Gallia Narbonensis (modern day
Provence), encompassing the rest of modern
France,
Belgium and some of
Switzerland. On other occasions he refers only to that territory inhabited by the
Celtic peoples known to the Romans as
Gauls, from the
English Channel to Lugdunum (
Lyon).
The Latin title, literally Commentaries about the Gallic War, is often retained in English translations of the book, and the title is also translated to About the Gallic War, Of the Gallic War, On the Gallic War, The Conquest of Gaul, and The Gallic War.
The first book deals primarily but not exclusively with the Helvetian War in 58 BC. In it, Caesar describes Gaul and the campaign against the Helvetii, a conglomeration of peoples numbering in excess of 300,000, who decided to migrate by force of arms from the Alpine regions through the centre of Gaul to the west to alleviate population pressures. This would require the crossing either of Provence, or of areas held by tribes allied to Rome. When Caesar made it clear he would not allow this, the Helvetians formed an alliance of tribes to fight him. This drew the Romans out of Provence. Later books are about the campaigns against Veneti, Aquitani, Germanic peoples and Bretons; Caesar's invasions of Britain; the insurrection of Gaul,[1] and the defeat of Vercingetorix at the Battle of Alesia.[2]
Caesar distinguishes three ethnic groups living in Gaul who were subdued by his forces the Gauls, who lived in the center of the country; the Aquitani, who lived in what is now Aquitaine; and the Belgae, who lived in the north. Campaigns typically started in late summer with the provisioning of grain and construction of fortresses, and ended late in the year when Caesar returned to his winter quarters among the Sequani for the winter (Caesar 42). He campaigned with a number of legions in his army, sometimes as many as eight. He faced a variety of tribal armies, often hasty alliances of them, some numbering – or at least claimed to number – over 100,000 strong. Many of the campaigns end with the Roman cavalry running down thousands of fleeing tribesmen, and often their women and children as well. In one instance he defeated a tribe and immediately sold all 53,000 survivors into slavery.
