ple, and, while
abstaining from further aggression, remained firmly established in what is
now Alsace. For some time the Roman province had been alarmed by the
threat of a migration of the Helvetii, then settled in western
Switzerland, and in March, 58 B. C., this people started in search of new
abodes. Caesar reached Gaul in time to prevent their crossing the upper
Rhone, and followed them as they turned westward into the lands of the
Sequani and Aedui. Defeated in two battles, they were forced to return to
their home and to become allies of Rome. The movement of the Helvetii had
given Caesar the opportunity for intervention in _Gallia comata_, and a
pretext for extending his influence there was found in the hostility of
some of the Gauls to Ariovistus, and the knowledge that a band of Suevi
was expected soon to cross the Rhine to reinforce the latter. To frustrate
a German occupation of Gaul now became Caesar's object. Ariovistus
rejected the demands of Caesar, who thereupon attacked him, defeated him
in the vicinity of Strassburg and drove him across the Rhine. Caesar was
now the dominant power in Gaul, and many of the leading tribes entered
into alliance with Rome. Of the Belgae, however, only the Remi came over
to the side of Rome.

*The conquest of the Belgae, Veneti, and Aquitanians, 57-56 B. C.* In the
next year, 57 B. C., Caesar marched against the united forces of the
Belgae, defeated them, and subdued many tribes, chief of whom were the
Nervii. At the same time his legates received the submission of the
peoples of Normandy and Brittany. In the course of the following winter
some of these, led by the Veneti, broke off their alliance and attacked
Caesar's garrisons. Thereupon he set to work to build a fleet, with which
in the course of the next summer the fleet of the Veneti was destroyed and
their strongholds on the coast taken (56 B. C.). The same year witnessed
the submission of the Aquitanians, which brought practically the whole of
Gaul under Roman sway.

*Events in Rome, 58-55 B. C.* Meanwhile important changes had taken place
in the situation at Rome. Pompey had broken with Clodius, and supported
the tribune Titus Annius Milo who pressed for Cicero's recall. A law of
the Assembly withdrew his sentence of outlawry, his property was restored,
and the orator returned in September, 57 B. C., to enjoy a warm reception
both in the municipal towns and at the capital. For the moment Pompey and
the Optimates wer