Gaius Julius Caesar’s campaign in Gaul was a resounding success with many decisive victories
allowing him to conquer vast territory, making him rich and powerful. However, the political
situation both in Rome and Gaul, coupled with Caesar’s ambition didn’t allow him to
sit idle and the general would become the first Roman to invade Germania and Britannia.
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By 56 BC Caesar had subjugated the majority of Gaul either through conquest or political
alliances, and was beginning to look for new opportunities to expand Rome’s influence.
But not all the Gallic tribes were taking kindly to Roman rule; one such tribe was the
Veneti, located in modern Brittany. Despite signing a peace treaty with Caesar the year
before, they reneged on this promise, and captured a few Roman officers. As a largely
seafaring nation, the Veneti were confident that they would be able to put their faith
in their navy and force Caesar to make concessions. However, Caesar spent no time trying to negotiate,
instead seeing the act as a direct declaration of war, and marched on the tribe.
Initially, he found little success; due to their large navy, the Veneti were able to
effectively hop from town to town, moving entire populaces and their belongings, denying
the Romans a pitched battle or siege. Standard Roman tactics proved ineffective therefore,
and it was clear that, in order to win, Caesar had to defeat the navy. With no navy on hand
he ordered that a fleet be built in order to take on the Veneti navy.
But compared to the Roman ships, which were designed for the Mediterranean, the Veneti
ships, designed for the Atlantic, were much stronger and taller, and the Romans found
them impossible to ram or board. It was only through the ingenuity of one of his legates,
Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, who suggested that they use billhooks to cut down the sails
and cripple the Veneti boats, that Caesar was able to defeat their navy. With this issue
sorted, it now seemed that Caesar would be able to move on to new conquests.
Once again though, his plans were put on hold in 55 BC when yet another roaming German horde,
composed of Usipetes and Tenchtheri, began threatening the Rhine border. These tribes
previously rivalled the Suebi, but were now fleeing in huge numbers, Caesar giving their
total number, including civilians, as 430,000. They had already slaughtered the Menapii and
stolen their ships in order to cross the river, and were now pouring into Gaul.
Upon hearing about this, Caesar was once again compelled to act, as he was worried that the
Gauls might join the Germans in an attempt to oust the Romans. Some Gallic tribes in
the Rhine valley had indeed sent emissaries to the Germans, providing them with food and
intelligence, encouraging them to move deeper into Gaul.
Caesar gathered a council of Gallic chiefs and convinced them to provide more cavalry
for him to confront the Germans. This served two purposes. Firstly, Rome’s cavalry had
always been lacking, and the Gauls were renowned horsemen, and so filled a crucial role in
the army, and secondly, because cavalry was composed largely of nobles or wealthy persons,
they would act as hostages, ensuring good behaviour. He then gathered 5 of his legions
and headed to the Rhine. The Germans had sent a large portion of their
cavalry ahead of their main force in order to carry out raiding missions, but hearing
that Caesar was getting close, they sent emissaries in order to delay him. They asked Caesar to
negotiate, claiming that they were only in Gaul because they had been forced to flee
from the Suebi, and promised to ally with Rome if Caesar could provide them with land
in Gaul. However, Caesar suspected that the Germans were delaying and continued his advance.
The envoys continued back and forth as Caesar continued to progress toward the German camp,
sending forward his 5000 cavalry as an advanced force, but with orders not to provoke them
into attack. However, upon seeing the Roman cavalry separated from the main force, the
Germans fell upon them. The Romans initially tried to hold their ground but were eventually
overwhelmed and retreated to the safety of Caesar’s camp. Caesar likely underplays
the amount of casualties taken, giving the number as 74, but he does mention that two
brothers of the famous and influential Piso family had died in the fighting, something
that Caesar could not let go unpunished. Refusing to hold back any longer, Caesar gathered
his force to attack the Germans. But before he moved off, the Germans sent a party of
diplomats, including high ranking nobility, to treat with Caesar, once again asking for
peace and apologising for the attack. As the Germans had already attacked apparently without
provocation, Caesar refused, and took the delegates as prisoners. He then drew up his
army in three lines and moved swiftly to the German camp.
The Germans, assuming that Caesar still would have been delayed by their envoys, were caught
completely unaware. The legions fell upon their camp. Caesar brushes over the details,
but it seems to have been somewhat of a massacre. The fleeing Germans were pursued by the Roman
cavalry. Some made it across the river in their boats, but many tried to swim across
and drowned. Hearing of the defeat, the German cavalry which had been pillaging returned
across the Rhine. Caesar’s army had taken minimal casualties.
It is important to note that while Caesar portrayed this as a great victory against
a marauding Germanic horde, this is not how others saw it. To Caesar’s political rivals
in Rome, Caesar had broken the armistice with the Germans by antagonising them with his
cavalry, imprisoned diplomats, which was effectively a declaration of war, and then carried out
a massacre including civilians. Caesar needed something to distract the senate
and win the minds of the people, so he decided to boost his popularity by doing what no Roman
general had ever done before: crossing the Rhine. The Germanic tribe Ubii offered its
ships, hoping that the Romans would assist in their war against the Suebi. Caesar, however,
deemed this unworthy of the Roman people, and instead decided to build a bridge across
the Rhine between modern Andernach and Neuwied. It was an engineering marvel; the legion’s
engineers used winches to act as pile drivers, driving stakes deep into the river, and constructed
the 140 to 400 m by 7 to 9 m bridge in just 10 days.
Caesar found the lands beyond the Rhine almost deserted. Taken aback by the Romans’ speed
and their feat of engineering, the Germanic tribes in the area had retreated deep into
the Germanic forests, where they had amassed a significant army. However, Caesar had no
desire to be caught in a prolonged campaign in foreign territory against a notoriously
dangerous enemy. He spent just 18 days on the German side of the Rhine, burning villages
and crop fields, before returning and dismantling the bridge.
The campaign was a proof, not only to the Germans but also to Caesar’s rivals in Rome,
that he could overcome anything and do as he pleased.
Caesar's next ambition, Britain, was once again a perfect propaganda target. The island
was on the edge of the known world and rumoured to be a land of monsters and vast riches.
It had remained effectively untouched, and bringing it into Rome’s sphere of influence
would be a significant achievement. According to Caesar, the Britons had provided
some of the Gallic tribes with the resources needed to make war. While this was a weak
casus belli, Caesar was, by now, effectively doing what he wanted with little oversight.
He began gathering intel from the Gallic merchants, and sent a small reconnaissance force to the
island, whilst he mustered the ships he used against the Veneti and prepared to cross with
the 7th and 10th legions. He set sail from modern Calais and safely
made it across with the most of his army, but his cavalry had been delayed by bad weather.
The Romans saw the Britons had amassed along the White Cliffs of Dover in huge numbers,
with infantry, cavalry and chariots, and with every warrior painted in fierce blue war paint.
Caesar moved further down the coast in order to find a better place to land, but was shadowed
by the Britons’ cavalry and chariots, who were easily able to keep pace with the fleet.
When the Romans finally found a suitable beach, Caesar arranged his transport vessels into
a long line with his warships on his flanks and ordered his men to disembark. As the transport
vessels had deep keels, however, they were still some way from the shore, and the Legions
were forced to wade in waist deep water to try and reach the beach. The Briton saw their
opportunity and attacked, firing missiles into the ranks of the legionnaires as they
struggled through the water, weighed down by their armour. The Briton cavalry charged
in and out of the Romans, the height advantage of being on horseback allowing them to fight
much more effectively than the Romans stuck in the water. The legionaries were taking
significant casualties, and seeing this, Caesar moved his shallower keeled warships up the
flanks so that his missile troops and ballistae could fire into the Britons’ sides.
Still the legions were wavering, with some men not even being willing to get off their
transports. It was not until an eagle bearer of the 10th Legion leaped into the water and
waded towards the Britons that the Legions rallied and re-joined the battle in earnest.
The fighting was fierce and contested, withvRomans gathering to their nearest standards to try
and maintain some form of cohesion, while Caesar used rowing boats to ferry men from
the transports to areas where the Roman front line looked to be in danger.
Finally, the Romans were able to push through the shallows onto the beach where their organisation
and heavy armour could come into play, at which point the Britons broke off and retreated.
Caesar, without any cavalry, had no choice but to let them escape. We don’t know the
numbers of dead on either side, but being a contested landing, it’s likely that the
Roman losses were greater. Following the battle, the Romans established
a camp on the beach and the Britons sent delegates to sue for peace, probably to assess the Romans’
purpose in the area. They were on home ground and could afford to wait to see what Caesar’s
next move would be, whereas Caesar, with no supply line, would be pressured to make the
first move. Caesar accepted the peace, and the Britons sent a small number of hostages,
promising more later. The cavalry that had been waylaid did try
and cross once again to meet Caesar but were caught in a storm and forced to turn back.
This same storm damaged the ships that Caesar had anchored off the beach, demoralising the
Romans, who could no longer escape the island. Salvaging what materials he could from the
most damaged ships, Caesar began repairs. He sent one legion at a time to forage for
food whilst the others defended the camp on the beach. However, whilst one of the Legions
was out foraging, the camp watch reported seeing dust on the horizon moving their way.
This, combined with the lack of the promised extra hostages, was enough to alert Caesar
to what was happening. He gathered two cohorts and marched quickly to the Legion's location.
Whilst foraging, the Legion had been ambushed. Scattered and focused on collecting food,
the Britons had been able to kill a substantial number of them in the initial attack. The
Legion had managed to regain some level of discipline, snatching up their weapons, but
they were surrounded by the British cavalry and chariots.
British charioteers were trained to throw missiles from their chariots and then dismount
to fight on foot, before hopping back on the chariot when the fighting got too hard in
order to regroup. This gave them the staying power of infantry and mobility of cavalry,
a tactic Caesar admired, but was now taking a heavy toll on the surrounded Legion.
Upon Caesar’s arrival with his cohorts in formation, the cavalry and chariots retreated;
the Britons had no desire to fight heavy infantry in formation in a pitched battle without their
own infantry support, and allowed the Legion to withdraw to camp with Caesar.
However, bolstered by this success, the Britons amassed their full force of infantry, cavalry
and chariots, and marched on the camp. Caesar drew out his Legions to meet them. So far,
he had been fighting in difficult circumstances - in water, in ambushes, against a highly
mobile enemy - but this was an ideal situation for the Romans, where their formations and
discipline could truly make a difference. The Britons charged, but in these conditions,
the Romans had a significant advantage. Whilst the chariots and cavalry had proved highly
effective against small groups of Roman infantry, with the Legions in a cohesive line they now
had little effect. The Britons quickly caught onto this fact and disengaged, their chariots
and cavalry leaving the battlefield. The Roman infantry was now able to surge forward
and catch a portion of the Briton infantry, routing it completely. The Britons were excellent
at hit and run tactics and ambushes, but in set piece battles, the Romans were far superior.
Once again, the Britons sent a peace delegation, and Caesar, knowing that his options were
limited and that he did not have enough resources to carry out a full campaign, accepted and
then hastily withdrew from the island during the night.
However, on his way back to Gaul, 2 ships were blown off course in a storm. 300 Romans
were stranded and surrounded by a Belgae tribe, the Morini, who Caesar had only recently subjugated
and were keen for spoils and revenge. The Romans were assailed from all sides with missiles
in hit and run attacks against their small group. Caesar caught wind of this and gathered
as much cavalry as he could to personally lead them to the men’s rescue, managing
to ride down the Gauls and save the Romans with only minimal casualties.
Labienus would later be sent into the Belgae territory to winter there and reinforce Roman
rule in the area. Neither the invasion of Britain nor this foray
into Belgae territory were significant military achievements, however, they show why Caesar
was so loved by his men. He was brave, achieving things no Roman had ever done before, he was
calm under pressure, and, most importantly, he would lead from the front, and showed that
he cared for his soldiers and was prepared to risk his life to save them.
The Briton campaign had not achieved much for the Romans, but it did provide Caesar
with crucial knowledge about the Britons’ military, the climate, and the level of preparation
that he would need to succeed, lessons he would learn from for next year. Moreover,
the Roman public and senate were amazed by his feat of crossing the Channel into unknown
territories, and a full 20 days of thanksgiving were declared to recognise his achievement.
The History of the Celtic people is often forgotten when talking about the Roman conquest,
so we decided to remedy this situation by recording a new podcast talking about the
historical and archaeological records of the Gauls and other Celtic peoples and you can
listen to it via the link in the description or the pinned comment. Our series on Caesar
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