finding
he could do nothing by his opposition, hastily left the Senate and
began to clamour to the people. But nobody attended to him, some from
fear of displeasing Pompeius and Crassus, but the greater part kept
quiet to please Caesar, living on hopes from him.

XXII. Caesar again returned to his troops in Gaul where he found much
war in the country, for two great German nations had just crossed the
Rhenus for the purpose of getting land; the one nation was called
Usipes,[493] and the other Tenteritae. Respecting the battle with them,
Caesar says in his Commentaries,[494] that the barbarians, while they
were treating with him during a truce, attacked on their march and so
put to flight his own cavalry to the number of five thousand with
eight hundred of their own, for his men were not expecting an attack;
that they then sent other ambassadors to him intending to deceive him
again, whom he detained, and then led his army against the barbarians,
considering all faith towards such faithless men and violators of
truces to be folly. But Tanusius[495] says that while the senate were
decreeing festivals and sacrifices for the victory, Cato delivered it
as his opinion, that they ought to give up Caesar to the barbarians,
and so purge themselves of the violation of the truce on behalf of the
city, and turn the curse on the guilty man. Of those who had crossed
the river there were slaughtered to the number of four hundred
thousand, and the few who recrossed the river were received by the
Sugambri[496] a German tribe. Caesar laying hold of this ground of
complaint against the Germans, and being also greedy of glory and
desirous to be the first man to cross the Rhenus with an army, began
to build a bridge over the river, which was very broad, and in this
part of the bed spread out widest, and was rough, and ran with a
strong current so as to drive the trunks of trees that were carried
down and logs of wood against the supports of the bridge,[497] and
tear them asunder. But Caesar planted large timbers across the bed of
the river above the bridge to receive the trees that floated down, and
thus bridling the descending current, beyond all expectation he
accomplished the completion of the bridge in ten days.

XXIII. Caesar now led his troops over the river, no one venturing to
oppose him, and even the Suevi, the most valiant of the Germans,
retired with their property into deep woody valleys. After devastating
with fire the enemy's