Envious of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus's exploits in the Mediterranean Sea, Julius Caesar understands that he too must achieve something extraordinary if he wishes to see his political ambitions fulfilled. And soon enough, an opportunity presents itself to him in 58 B.C.E when he is informed that the Helvetii (Swiss region), one of the many peoples of Celtic Gaul, are moving towards the lands of the Santoni (Saintonge region) which will have them either pass through the Province, 'pacified' region under Roman rule, or pass by the lands of the Sequani (Franche Comté region). And though the Helvetii obtained the approval of their request to migrate and settle in the Santoni's lands three years ago during the Assembly of the Gauls, Caesar does not want to believe in the Helvetii's lawful migration process leading him to initiate a conflict with them by refusing passage through Cisalpine Gaul to the Helvetii which would start the Gallic War and would result to most of the Helvetii being wiped out. From then on, his reports to the Senate became a way to justify his war crimes against the Helvetii, the Aduatuci and the Usipetes as well as the Tencteri (and many more) by saying that:
- they (the Celts) are descended from the very same Celtic peoples who sacked Rome in 387 BCE so they had to pay.
- they (the Celts) defeated us in 107 BCE so they had to pay.
- they (the Celts) dared defend themselves against me Caesar so they had to pay.
- they (the Celts) were barbarians who needed to be civilised.
- they (the Celts) were lost and defenceless so they needed me Caesar to help them defeat their rival neighbours and conquer them all.
Nevertheless, there is an interesting aspect to read Julius Caesar's military reports on his various war campaigns against the peoples of Celtica, Germania and Belgica as well as Aquitania and Britannia from 58 BCE to 51 BCE. This interesting aspect being that it is one of the earliest written historical documents giving information about the Celts, about the time period, about the name of some Celtic kings, warriors and druids and how they were fighting. And yet, when reading his reports, it quickly becomes evident that Caesar's view of the Celts is extremely biased and therefore each information that he provides in his accounts must be taken with a grain of salt.
The detailed descriptions of how Roman camps were built, what kind of tactics and strategies the Roman legions were using and which Celtic druids and/or kings betrayed their own people to obtain a position of power and become clients of Rome (I'm looking at you Diviciacus from the Aedui) constituted the most informative part of The Gallic War.
Julius Caesar, The Gallic War, Oxford, Oxford University Press, Oxford World's Classics, 2008.