was broken up by German treachery the two armies came up with each other. For some days the Germans refused to fight, but at last, when forced to do so, were defeated with great slaughter, and pursued to the Rhine. Caesar, leaving Labienus in charge of the winter-quarters (although it was not yet October), himself returned into Cisalpine Gaul. is defeated. B.C. 58-51. The rest of Caesar's life must be very briefly told. In the course of the next few years he succeeded in thoroughly conquering and civilizing Gaul, and in crossing over into Britain. On the death of Pompey he was without a rival; and at his death he had been five times consul, four times dictator; he was dictator elect for life, praefectus morum, tribune of the people, princeps senatus, imperator. His murder, the result Caesar's mur. partly of fanaticism, partly of personal der, B.c. 44. hate, robbed Rome of her greatest citizen. His powers and genius were simply astonishing. A brilliant leader, a skilful engineer, a profound jurist, a scientific astronomer, an eloquent His genius. orator and accomplished poet-there was no region, practical or theoretical, into which he did. not travel with the greatest success. The Commentaries in which he simply told the story of his Gallic wars are a model of what such writing should be, and are equally valuable for the student of the Latin language or of the military art. [Reprinted from Mr. Rutherford's Edition of Books II. and III. of CAESAR'S GALLIC WAR' in the same series.] THE ROMAN ARMY. THE Romans were a nation of soldiers, and it is necessary to know something about the Roman army in order to understand the writings of the greatest Roman general. Every one knows how Rome was not built without bloodshed; and it was 5 by fire and sword, by blood and iron, that she pushed forward year by year the boundaries of her empire. But, except in point of discipline, the legions of Caesar bore little resemblance to the citizen host which Romulus had led to victory 10 seven centuries before. The history of the Roman Army divides itself into periods, but it is impossible to understand accurately the military terms of a later period without knowing something of those which preceded. 15 We will give a slight outline of the military systems previous to that which was in use when Caesar fought in Gaul. In the time of the kings the order of battle was the phalanx, in which the soldiers formed one compact mass. Camillus, at the 20 beginning of the fourth century B.C., is said to have broken the phalanx up into smaller bodies, called manipuli, capable of acting separately, but trained to act in concert. The whole legion was arranged in three lines. The first line was composed of the 25 youngest men, the second of men in the full vigour of life, and the third of veterans. These three lines were called respectively Hastati, Principes, and Triarii, and each contained ten manipuli, drawn up separately at a short distance from each other. 30 b 5 The legion so drawn up presented a chequer formation: Hastati Each manipulus was divided into two centuriae, each of which was commanded by a centurio. The centurion commanding the right wing (centurio prior) had command of the whole maniple. Under 10 him was the centurion in command of the left wing (centurio posterior). The men of each legion were distributed among thirty maniples. Light troops (velites) were attached, twenty to each century. Thus in tabular form : 10 maniples of 120 men = 20 centuries of 60 men= = 1200 15 Hastati Principes 10 Triarii 10 60 =20 60 =1200 30 = 600 25 30 To every century 20 velites In the chequer formation the intervals between the maniples were of the same length as the front of a maniple, and were utilized in the following way-The first line, when compelled to retire, drew off between the intervals of the Principes, while the Principes advanced to the attack. Meanwhile the Triarii remained kneeling behind their shields. If the Principes were also forced to give way, they retired upon the Triarii, who received them and the Hastati into the intervals between their maniples, and advanced in one long unbroken line upon the enemy. Attached to the legion were three hundred cavalry. They were divided into ten turmae, or squadrons of thirty men, each turma being commanded by three decuriones and three subordinate officers, called optiones. 5 The Allies (Socii)—that is, the Italian States subject to Rome-had to supply as many infantry soldiers as Rome sent into the field, and three times as many cavalry. From the fact that in battle they were placed upon the wings of the Roman Ic legions, they were sometimes designated by the words ala, alarii, or cohortes alariae. A fifth part of their infantry and a third part of their cavalry formed a select body called extraordinarii, or cohortes extraordinariae. 15 20 25 Both Romans and Allies were equipped in the same manner. Of defensive armour all three lines of the legion had the full suit. It consisted of helmet, shield, cuirass, and greaves. The helmet was of iron (cassis), or of leather mounted with bronze (galea), and was sometimes furnished with a crest (crista) of red or black feathers. The iron helmet gradually superseded the helmet of leather, but the word galea replaced cassis. The shield (scutum) was of strong wood covered with hide. It was about four feet long and two and a half broad, and bent round so as to present a convex outside. It had a metal rim at each end, and an iron boss (umbo) in the middle. The cuirass (lorica) appears to have varied much in material and shape. It was sometimes 30 made of plaits or thick strips of leather overlapping one another, the chest being protected by a plate of iron about nine inches square. Under the Empire it was generally formed of two plates of metal over the chest, and long flexible bands of 35 |