d less alarmed said that they did not dread the enemy, but
feared the narrowness of the roads and the vastness of the forests which
lay between them and Ariovistus, or else that the supplies could not be
brought up readily enough. Some even declared to Caesar that when he gave
orders for the camp to be moved and the troops to advance, the soldiers
would not be obedient to the command nor advance, in consequence of
their fear.

When Caesar observed these things, having called a council, and summoned
to it the centurions of all the companies, he severely reprimanded them,
"particularly for supposing that it belonged to them to inquire or
conjecture either in what direction they were marching or with what
object. That Ariovistus during his [Caesar's] consulship had most
anxiously sought after the friendship of the Roman people; why should
any one judge that he would so rashly depart from his duty? He for his
part was persuaded that when his demands were known and the fairness of
the terms considered, he would reject neither his nor the Roman people's
favor. But even if, driven on by rage and madness, he should make war
upon them, what after all were they afraid of?--or why should they
despair either of their own valor or of his zeal? Of that enemy a trial
had been made within our fathers' recollection, when on the defeat of
the Cimbri and Teutones by Caius Marius, the army was regarded as having
deserved no less praise than their commander himself. It had been made
lately too in Italy, during the rebellion of the slaves, whom, however,
the experience and training which they had received from us assisted in
some respect. From which a judgment might be formed of the advantages
which resolution carries with it,--inasmuch as those whom for some time
they had groundlessly dreaded when unarmed, they had afterwards
vanquished when well armed and flushed with success. In short, that
these were the same men whom the Helvetii, in frequent encounters, not
only in their own territories, but also in theirs [the German], have
generally vanquished, and yet cannot have been a match for our army. If
the unsuccessful battle and flight of the Gauls disquieted any, these,
if they made inquiries, might discover that when the Gauls had been
tired out by the long duration of the war, Ariovistus, after he had many
months kept himself in his camp and in the marshes, and had given no
opportunity for an engagement, fell suddenly upon them, by this ti