Cicero was
in bad health, but he clung to his work till the men carried him by force
to his tent and obliged him to lie down. The first surprise not having
succeeded, the Nervian chiefs, who knew Cicero, desired a parley. They
told the same story which Ambiorix had told, that the Germans had crossed
the Rhine, and that all Gaul was in arms. They informed him of the
destruction of Sabinus; they warned him that the same fate was hanging
over himself, and that his only hope was in surrender. They did not wish,
they said, to hurt either him or the Roman people; he and his troops would
be free to go where they pleased, but they were determined to prevent the
legions from quartering themselves permanently in their country.
There was but one Sabinus in the Roman army. Cicero answered, with a
spirit worthy of his country, that Romans accepted no conditions from
enemies in arms. The Gauls might, if they pleased, send a deputation to
Caesar, and hear what he would say to them. For himself, he had no
authority to listen to them. Force and treachery being alike unavailing,
they resolved to starve Cicero out. They had watched the Roman strategy.
They had seen and felt the value of the entrenchments. They made a bank
and ditch all round the camp, and, though they had no tools but their
swords with which to dig turf and cut trees, so many there were of them
that the work was completed in three hours.
Pages:
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395