Book 3, letter 8 Part 2 of 3 To Cicero, on his brother Quintus

Dear Cicero,

If you, Cicero, were the Orator, then your brother was the Soldier. Though you both held important government leadership positions at various times in your lives, Quintus was acquainted with the weight of a sword in his hand, while your weapon of choice was the quill. You wrote this following letter to your brother while he was serving under Caesar in Gaul, fighting in a war that lasted many years, and resulted in gigantic casualties for both sides.

CXXXVIII (Q FR II, 12 [14])

TO HIS BROTHER QUINTUS (IN GAUL)

Cumæ(May)

bc 54, aet 52

“...I am writing the treatise of which I spoke to you, "On the Republic," a very bulky and laborious work. But if it turns out as I wish, it will be labour well bestowed, and if not I shall toss it into the very sea which I have before my eyes as I write, and set to work on something else; since to do nothing is beyond my power. I will carefully observe your instruction both as to attaching certain persons to myself and not alienating certain others. But my chief care will be to see your son, or rather our son, if possible, every day at any rate, and to watch the progress of his education as often as possible; and, unless he declines my help, I will even offer to be his instructor, a practice to which I have become habituated in the leisure of these days while bringing my own boy, the younger Cicero, on.”

I read Caesar's account of your brother's time in Gaul. It seems he was quite the war hero. I'm going to quote extensively from Caesar here, since the story is so colourful and Caesar's writing style is so different from your own. I will quote from 'The Conquest of Gaul', the W.A MacDevitt translation of 1915.

XL

During the night as many as 120 towers are raised with incredible despatch out of the timber which they had collected for the purpose of fortification: the things which seemed necessary to the work are completed. The following day the enemy, having collected far greater forces, attack the camp [and] fill up the ditch. Resistance is made by our men in the same manner as the day before: this same thing is done afterwards during the remaining days. The work is carried on incessantly in the night: not even to the sick, or wounded, is opportunity given for rest: whatever things are required for resisting the assault of the next day are provided during the night: many stakes burnt at the end, and a large number of mural pikes are procured: towers are built up, battlements and parapets are formed of interwoven hurdles. Cicero himself, though he was in very weak health, did not leave himself the night-time for repose, so that he was forced to spare himself by the spontaneous movement and entreaties of the soldiers.

When the enemy had surrounded Quintus' camp, trapping him with all his soldiers inside, the Gauls then sent emissaries offering a peace deal to the Romans, telling them that if they wanted to, they could pack up and leave, and nobody would have to die. This was Quintus' reply:

XLI

To these Cicero made only one reply: "that it is not the custom of the Roman people to accept any condition from an armed enemy: if they are willing to lay down their arms, they may employ him as their advocate and send ambassadors to Caesar: that he believed, from his [Caesar's] justice, they would obtain the things which they might request."

So when Quintus was totally surrounded, when his soldiers were wounded and exhausted already, the siege having not yet really begun, instead of taking the rather gracious offer of a formal retreat, Quintus told his enemies that he would not negotiate with an armed enemy, but that if they (the Gauls) wanted to surrender, then he would speak to Caesar on their behalf.

It seems that Quintus was either crazy, or brave, or perhaps he was just Roman. Either way, the real fight was about to begin...

XLII.—Disappointed in this hope, the Nervii surround the winter-quarters with a rampart eleven feet high, and a ditch thirteen feet in depth. These military works they had learnt from our men in the intercourse of former years, and, having taken some of our army prisoners, were instructed by them: but, as they had no supply of iron tools which are requisite for this service, they were forced to cut the turf with their swords, and to empty out the earth with their hands and cloaks, from which circumstance the vast number of the men could be inferred; for in less than three hours they completed a fortification of ten miles in circumference; and during the rest of the days they began to prepare and construct towers of the height of the ramparts, and grappling irons, and mantlets, which the same prisoners had taught them.

XLIII.—On the seventh day of the attack, a very high wind having sprung up, they began to discharge by their slings hot balls made of burnt or hardened clay, and heated javelins, upon the huts, which, after the Gallic custom, were thatched with straw. These quickly took fire, and by the violence of the wind, scattered their flames in every part of the camp. The enemy following up their success with a very loud shout, as if victory were already obtained and secured, began to advance their towers and mantlets, and climb the rampart with ladders. But so great was the courage of our soldiers, and such their presence of mind, that though they were scorched on all sides, and harassed by a vast number of weapons, and were aware that their baggage and their possessions were burning, not only did no one quit the rampart for the purpose of withdrawing from the scene, but scarcely did any one even then look behind; and they all fought most vigorously and most valiantly. This day was by far the most calamitous to our men; it had this result, however, that on that day the largest number of the enemy was wounded and slain, since they had crowded beneath the very rampart, and the hindmost did not afford the foremost a retreat. The flame having abated a little, and a tower having been brought up in a particular place and touching the rampart, the centurions of the third cohort retired from the place in which they were standing, and drew off all their men: they began to call on the enemy by gestures and by words, to enter if they wished; but none of them dared to advance. Then stones having been cast from every quarter, the enemy were dislodged, and their tower set on fire.

It's quite exciting to read this sort of war story, especially with two thousand or so years separating me from Gallic hordes, but it must have been a terrifying and horrific experience. Caesar recounts that his own forces eventually came to relieve Quintus and break the siege, but for days on end, Quintus was trapped in that burning, blood stained and filthy war camp, thousands of miles from home. Your letters to him (however they managed to reach him), must have been of great solace during this campaign. Some historians go so far as to describe Caesar's war against the Gauls and Germans as nothing short of genocide, and your brother was right there in the middle of it. Other writers say that 'Rome conquered the world in self defence', which sounds ridiculous, but on the other hand, considering the prior history of conflict between the many nations bordering on Rome, it's not entirely untrue.