Caesar's Great Success: Sustaining the Roman Army on Campaign

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Chapter 1

Julius Caesar, His Wars and The Caesarean Army

An army marches on its stomach.

Napoleon

Julius Caesar’s Gallic and Civil Wars are familiar terrain. Nonetheless, because this book is thematic – detailing how Julius Caesar fed his army while on campaign – a brief overview of Caesar’s wars provides necessary narrative structure, which will help the reader put the anecdotes and references into context. Furthermore, in order to appreciate how significant Caesar’s logistical accomplishments were, it is important to grasp the size of his army and to calculate just how many mouths – and maws – he had to feed. This chapter aims to provide a brief overview of Caesar’s wars and to compute the size of Caesar’s army.

Caesar’s Career Prior to the Gallic Wars

Julius Caesar’s family rose to prominence in the generation before Caesar’s birth. The patrician family, which claimed descent from the goddess Venus, was of Alban origin and had settled in Rome, though there is little evidence of political influence until Caesar’s father, also called Gaius Julius Caesar, became consul in the Roman province of Asia (today western Turkey) and Caesar’s aunt married Gaius Marius, a prominent Roman general and statesman. Caesar’s mother, Aurelia Cotta, also came from a wealthy and influential family.

The sudden death of his father in 85

BC

elevated Caesar to head of the family at the age of 16. At the time, a civil war raged between Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a general and statesman whom many see as having set a precedent for Caesar’s later march on Rome and dictatorship, and Caesar’s uncle, Gaius Marius. While Marius and his ally Lucius Cornelius Cinna controlled the city, Caesar ascended to the position of Flamen Dialis, the high priest of Jupiter, and married Cinna’s daughter Cornelia. Sulla eventually emerged victorious, however, and Caesar was stripped of his priesthood as well as his own inheritance and Cornelia’s dowry. Caesar feared Sulla’s further wrath and joined the army in order to get away from the dictator. The contrast between his old position and his new could not be greater, as the Flamen Dialis was forbidden to sit on a horse, be in the presence of an army or sleep for a single night outside of Rome. Quite simply, stripping Caesar of his priestly title allowed a path to the Gallic Wars. During his early military career, Caesar served under Marcus Minucius Thermus in Asia and Servilius Isauricus in Cicilia. He fought in the Siege of Mytilene in 81

BC

, winning a Civic Crown, the second highest decoration to which a citizen could aspire.

Upon Sulla’s death in 78

BC

, Caesar returned to Rome. Although without means, he gained attention as a legal advocate and was known for his prosecution of corruption and extortion. His oratorical skills, complete with dramatic gestures and a high-pitched voice, won him praise and support in many parts of the city.

Several events and anecdotes from this period in Caesar’s life shed light on his actions and motivations during the Gallic and Civil Wars. Pirates kidnapped Caesar while he was crossing the Aegean Sea and he was insulted when they demanded a ransom twenty talents of silver. He insisted they ask for fifty. He also promised to capture and crucify his captors. When the ransom was paid, he raised a fleet and did just that. The punishment was swift and carried out on his own authority. Later, in 69

BC

, while serving his quaestorship in Spain, Caesar came across a statue of Alexander the Great. He is said to have realized that by the time Alexander was his age, he had conquered the world. Caesar, in contrast, had accomplished little. This suggests that Caesar considered himself capable of comparable feats.

Caesar returned to Rome in 67

BC

and married Sulla’s granddaughter, Pompeia, suggesting a desire to bring warring factions together. Two years later, Caesar was elected aedile, the office responsible for maintaining public buildings and organizing festivals. The popular games he staged drew considerable attention and public support for his abilities.

In the next years, Caesar served in numerous positions, including Pontifex Maximus (63

BC

), the most senior position in the Roman religion, praetor (62

BC

) and subsequently propraetor of Hispania Ulterior. The latter position drew him closer to Marcus Licinius Crassus, who paid off Caesar’s debts in exchange for political support. Caesar’s governorship in Spain was praised, having reformed laws and conducting two victorious military campaigns against local tribes. His troops hailed him as imperator, but rather than applying for a triumph – the ceremony celebrating the commander who had led forces to victory – Caesar instead opted to stand for consul, the highest magistracy in the Republic. Caesar won the sordid election and served as consul in 59

BC

.

Already politically close to Crassus, Caesar made overtures to Pompey, Crassus’ long-time political enemy. Together the three men formed an informal alliance – the First Triumvirate – and were able to sideline the other consul elected for the year, Marcus Bibulus, and exert tremendous political influence. Moreover, Pompey married Caesar’s daughter, Julia, cementing the relationship.

In the later Roman Republic, consuls were often given a governorship of a province outside of Rome and the title of proconsul. Proconsuls were given full consular powers and included the command of an army. Yet the aristocracy feared Caesar’s future power and granted him the rather opaque and meaningless title of governor of the woods and pastures of Italy, a position that excluded military service and provided little opportunity for Caesar to overcome his persistent personal debts. Caesar enlisted the help of political allies and won an alternative governorship, that of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) and Illyricum (south-eastern Europe). Transalpine Gaul (southern France) was later added. In all, Caesar had command of four legions. He quickly left for his province at the end of his consulship and began an unusually long five-year term.

Caesar’s political career begs the question of what positions and roles helped him develop his logistical acumen. By the time he had taken command of an army, he had held virtually every important office in the Roman government. Certainly, as consul and to a lesser extent praetor, he dealt with the management of resources and supplies and this no doubt gave him valuable experience. However, no small part of his logistical education were episodes of poor logistical planning in the early stages of the Gallic War that taught him valuable lessons. These incidents include having to call off the pursuit of Dumnorix and the Helvetii in 58

BC

and Ariovistus cutting off Roman supplies shortly thereafter. Indeed, there were countless moments during both the Gallic and the Civil War when the importance of supply was reinforced. So, while Caesar was not completely unprepared when he took command, much of his education was autodidactic.

A Brief History of Julius Caesar’s Wars

Pompey and Crassus intervened and used popular assemblies to promote Caesar to Roman governor of Illyricum and Cisalpine Gaul. His term of office was an unusually long five years, a period in which he was immune from prosecution. The term was later extended another five years.

At the beginning of his governorship of these provinces, Caesar commanded four legions: Legio VII, Legio VIII, Legio IX Hispana and Legio X. Caesar knew these legions well, having campaigned with them against the Lusitanians while governor of Hispania Ulterior in 61

BC

. He was fondest of Legio X, which Caesar had personally raised in Spain. The X played a prominent role in the Gallic campaigns and Caesar consistently extolled its virtues and bravery in his commentaries.

The beginning of the Gallic campaigns was not inconsistent with Roman security strategy. The Roman Republic sought stability on its northern border. Fifty years previously, the Republic had been invaded from the north, resulting in the Cimbrian War. Though Gaius Marius ultimately led Rome to victory in the conflict, the battles were costly and were seared into the Roman memory. Fear of new invasions was never far from military leaders’ strategic thinking. Yet beyond the interest of stability to the north of the Republic, it cannot be denied that Caesar’s persistent financial difficulties played a role in his subsequent involvement north of the Alps. The region was ripe for conquest and plunder and some tribes looked promising as potential allies. The Aedui, for example, traded regularly with the Romans and had joined previous political alliances. Caesar understood from the outset that sustaining military action in the region would require the assistance of allies.

A coalition of Arverni, Sequani and Suebi attacked the Aedui in 63

BC

. After the Battle of Magetobria, the Aedui statesman and druid Diviciacus requested aid from Rome. The situation looked grim. Ariovistus, chief of the Suebi, demanded from his allies land in order to settle 120,000 of his people who themselves had been harassed by Germanic tribes to the east. The demand made Rome nervous. Ariovistus would soon be in a position to control all of the lands of the Sequani and could threaten attacks throughout Gaul. This could lead to mass migrations comparable to those of the Cimbrian War (113–101

BC

), the only time since the Second Punic War that Italia had been seriously threatened.

When the Aedui were threatened again in 58

BC

, Caesar, newly appointed governor of the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul, was not going to sit back and watch. This time it was the Helvetii, a confederation of five Gallic tribes, who were under pressure from the north and the east. The Helvetii planned a mass migration across Aedui lands and through Transalpine Gaul to the west coast of Gaul. They requested a grant of peaceful passage, yet showed little willingness to wait for Rome’s response. The Helvetii leaders ordered the burning of their towns and villages, both to increase the commitment of the émigrés and to prevent enemies from taking the spoils of their abandoned lands.

Caesar was committed to stopping the passage of the Helvetii, but was in no position to respond. He was south of the Alps and there was but a single legion in Transalpine Gaul. He stalled negotiations, built defences, ordered the destruction of the Rhône bridge and immediately formed auxiliary units. Once better positioned, he rejected the Helvetii’s plea for safe passage and warned that attempts to cross the Rhône would be met with force. Several attempts were made, but the Romans successfully repelled them, forcing the Helvetii to seek an alternate route.

Caesar rushed to Cisalpine Gaul, where he took command of three legions stationed in Aquileia. He also levied two new legions, Legio XI and Legio XII, and led the five legions through the Alps to stop the Helvetii on their new routes. The Helvetii, meanwhile, had crossed the territories of the Sequani and were plundering the lands of the Aedui, Allobroges and Ambarri, all Roman allies. Caesar accepted their request for aid and attacked the Helvetii as they crossed the Saône river. Caesar defeated the portion of the tribe that had not yet crossed the river and built a bridge over the Saône to pursue the remaining Helvetii.

It is noteworthy that Caesar’s troops ran into early supply problems, due to treachery on the part of Dumnorix, an Aedui chieftain who thought it better to be dominated by fellow Gauls than by the Romans. Caesar pursued the Helvetii for two weeks but his army was in no position to fight effectively if they caught them. Instead, Caesar called off the pursuit and his troops retired to the Aedui town of Bibracte. The Helvetii turned and followed the Romans. The belligerents met and the Battle of Bibracte resulted in the sound defeat of the Helvetii. Caesar, recognizing the surviving Helvetii to be a useful buffer against the Germanic tribes to the north, ordered them to return to their homeland, a passage that received Roman assistance.

As a result of Caesar’s defeat of the Helvetii, most Gallic tribes were eager to negotiate with him in order to enlist Rome’s assistance in dealing with the threat of the Germanic invasion. In particular, they feared the recent Suebian land acquisition and were angered over the taking of hostages. The Gallic delegation appealed for Caesar to defeat Ariovistus, the king of the Suebi. Caesar acknowledged Rome’s obligation to aid its allies, especially the Aedui. In addition, defeating the Suebi provided Caesar with opportunities: the Roman Republic would secure – and possibly expand – its northern borders and the Roman army’s allegiance to Caesar as its leader would be strengthened.

Still, Caesar could not simply declare war on Ariovistus. The Roman Senate had recently declared him a ‘king and friend of the Roman people’. But Caesar delivered an ultimatum to Ariovistus: the Aedui hostages were to be returned and no Germans were to cross the Rhine. Ariovistus countered that Rome should stay out of the internal affairs of those outside of the Republic’s borders. The Harudes, an ally of the Suebi, attacked the Aedui in 58

BC

and reports came in that large numbers of Suebi were trying to cross the Rhine into Gaul. Caesar had all the justification he needed and declared war on Ariovistus.

The Roman army – led by Caesar’s beloved Legio X – marched to the well-fortified Sequani town of Vesontio (Besançon) upon word that Ariovistus intended to seize the oppidum built in a curve of the Arar river. Caesar and Ariovistus then held a parlay on horseback near the town and each general presented his position. The meeting was broken off when Ariovistus’ cavalry began throwing stones at Caesar’s escort. Ariovistus requested a second meeting two days later, but Caesar, doubtful of Ariovistus’ intentions, sent two lower-ranking representatives instead, who were subsequently put in chains and dragged off. The affront was sufficient to set the stage for the Battle of