ed
almost from the fourth hour till sunset.

XVI.--By this battle the war with the Veneti and the whole of the sea
coast was finished; for both all the youth, and all, too, of more
advanced age, in whom there was any discretion or rank, had assembled in
that battle; and they had collected in that one place whatever naval
forces they had anywhere; and when these were lost, the survivors had no
place to retreat to, nor means of defending their towns. They
accordingly surrendered themselves and all their possessions to Caesar,
on whom Caesar thought that punishment should be inflicted the more
severely, in order that for the future the rights of ambassadors might
be more carefully respected, by barbarians: having, therefore, put to
death all their senate, he sold the rest for slaves.

XVII.--While these things are going on amongst the Veneti, Q. Titurius
Sabinus with those troops which he had received from Caesar, arrives in
the territories of the Unelli. Over these people Viridovix ruled, and
held the chief command of all those states which had revolted: from
which he had collected a large and powerful army. And in those few days,
the Aulerci and the Sexovii, having slain their senate because they
would not consent to be promoters of the war, shut their gates [against
us] and united themselves to Viridovix; a great multitude besides of
desperate men and robbers assembled out of Gaul from all quarters, whom
the hope of plundering and the love of fighting had called away from
husbandry and their daily labour. Sabinus kept himself within his camp,
which was in a position convenient for everything; while Viridovix
encamped over against him at a distance of two miles, and daily bringing
out his forces, gave him an opportunity of fighting; so that Sabinus had
now not only come into contempt with the enemy, but also was somewhat
taunted by the speeches of our soldiers; and furnished so great a
suspicion of his cowardice that the enemy presumed to approach even to
the very rampart of our camp. He adopted this conduct for the following
reason: because he did not think that a lieutenant ought to engage in
battle with so great a force, especially while he who held the chief
command was absent, except on advantageous ground or some favourable
circumstance presented itself.

XVIII.--After having established this suspicion of his cowardice, he
selected a certain suitable and crafty Gaul, who was one of those whom
he had with him as