p of land, then known as
the Province, since then known as the country of Provence.

From this centre Caesar, with the small army under his command,
consisting of three legions, entered upon a career of conquest which
astonished Rome and drew upon him the eyes of the civilized world. He
had hardly been appointed when he received word that the Helvetian
tribes of Switzerland were advancing on Geneva, the northern outpost of
the Province, with a view of invading the West. He hastened thither, met
and defeated them, killed a vast multitude, and drove the remnant back
to their own country. Then, invited by some northern tribes, he attacked
a great German band which had invaded Northern Gaul, and defeated them
so utterly that few escaped across the Rhine. From that point he made
his way into and conquered Belgium. In a year's time he had vastly
extended the Roman dominion in the West.

For nine years this career of conquest continued. The barbarian Gauls
proved fierce and valiant soldiers, but at the end of that time they had
been completely subdued and made passive subjects of Rome. Caesar even
crossed the sea into Britain, and look the first step towards the
conquest of that island, of which Rome had barely heard before.

During this career of conquest many hundreds of thousands of men were
slain. But, then, Caesar was victorious and Rome triumphant, and what
mattered it if a million or two of barbarians were sacrificed to the
demon of conquest? It mattered little to Rome, in which great city
barbarian life was scarcely worth a second thought. It mattered little
to Caesar, who, like all great conquerors, was quite willing to mount to
power on a ladder of human lives.

Meanwhile what were Caesar's partners in the Triumvirate doing? When
Caesar was given the province of Gaul, Pompey was made governor of
Spain, and Crassus of Syria. Crassus, who had gained some military fame
by overcoming Spartacus the gladiator, wished to gain more, and sailed
for Asia, where he stirred up a war with distant Parthia. That was the
end of Crassus. He marched into the desert of Mesopotamia, and left his
body on the sands. His head was sent to Orodes, the Parthian king, who
ordered molten gold to be poured into his mouth,--a ghastly commentary
on his thirst for wealth.

Pompey left Spain to take care of itself, and remained in Rome, where he
sought to add to his popularity by building a great stone theatre, large
enough to hold forty thousa